LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA 

DAVIS 


j&tanDaro  Library  Coition 


AMERICAN   STATESMEN 


EDITED   BY 


JOHN  T.   MORSE,  JR. 

IN  THIRTY-TWO  VOLUMES 
VOL.    XXIV. 


DOMESTIC  POLITICS:   THE  TARIFF 
AND   SLAVERY 

LEWIS  CASS 


STAHBABDiXIBBAICr  EJUnOH 


HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   &  CO. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


American  Statesmen 


LEWIS  CASS 


ANDREW  c.  MCLAUGHLIN 

PROFESSOR  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY  IN  THB 
UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN 


BOSTON   AND   NEW   YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  JALIFORNIA 

DAYiS 


Copyright,  1891  and  1899, 
BY  ANDREW  C.  McLAUGHLIN. 

Copyright,  1899, 
BY  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  &  CO. 

All  rights  reserved. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION 

THIS  volume  does  not  pretend  to  give  a  com 
plete  and  detailed  account  of  the  life  of  Lewis 
Cass.  Even  some  of  the  more  important  facts  in 
his  public  career  are  omitted,  or  only  alluded  to  in 
passing.  He  has  been  studied  as  a  representative 
of  the  old  Northwest,  and  one  of  the  chief  purposes 
of  the  book  is  to  show  the  development  of  that 
section,  to  trace  the  growth  of  its  political  life. 
Evidently  this  could  not  be  done  in  detail ;  all  the 
manifestations  of  the  Western  spirit  could  not  be 
dwelt  upon,  nor  was  it  possible  to  estimate  exactly 
the  power  and  influence  of  Western  sentiment  in 
the  councils  of  the  nation,  or  to  weigh  accurately 
the  Western  ingredient  in  our  national  character. 
But  students  of  American  history  have  come  to 
see  that  the  course  of  events  is  not  explicable  if 
one  pays  attention  to  the  work  and  the  princi 
ples  of  Eastern  men  alone,  and  I  am  led  to  believe 
that,  by  studying  the  career  of  a  man  who  thor 
oughly  embodied  for  many  years  the  nature  of  the 
newer  West  as  it  was  before  the  civil  war,  I  may 
have  thrown  some  light  upon  the  general  history  of 


vi       PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION 

the  United  States.  Whether  I  have  succeeded  in 
this  or  not,  one  may  say  with  confidence  that  a 
series  of  American  statesmen  would  not  be  com 
plete  if  it  did  not  contain  the  biography  of  a 
typical  Northwestern  man,  and  show  some  appre 
ciation  of  the  fact  that  one  of  America's  heaviest 
tasks  and  greatest  achievements  was  to  transform  a 
wilderness  into  populous,  organized  communities, 
and  that,  as  years  went  by,  this  Western  country, 
full  of  eager,  active,  energetic  men,  who  were  made 
by  natural  circumstances  self-confident  and  assert 
ive,  impressed  itself  upon  the  national  life,  and 
did  something  to  shape  the  destinies  of  the  United 
States.  Some  of  the  acts  of  Cass,  which  I  be 
lieved,  when  preparing  the  first  edition  of  this 
book,  were  due  in  large  measure  to  personal  char 
acteristics  or  peculiarities,  I  have  come  to  look 
upon  as  somewhat  representative.  His  continuous, 
unbending  opposition  to  England,  for  example, 
seems  to  have  been  a  part  of  the  exuberant  patri 
otic  enthusiasm  of  the  West;  and  coupled  with 
this  was  the  feeling  of  "  manifest  destiny,"  which 
undoubtedly  influenced  him  when  considering  such 
questions  as  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  "  re- 
occupation  "  of  the  whole  of  Oregon. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  revised  edition,  I  have 
not  thought  it  best  to  make  many  changes.  I  have 
added  something  to  the  text  of  the  first  edition, 


PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION      vii 

and  have  made  a  few  changes  that  seemed  to  me  to 
be  desirable.  I  have  altered  slightly  the  account 
of  the  surrender  of  Hull,  thinking  that  the  state 
ment  did  not  make  sufficient  allowance  for  the 
difficulties  with  which  he  was  surrounded,  and  that 
it  did  not  sufficiently  take  into  consideration  the 
fact  that  to  some  extent  he  was  the  victim  of  an 
incompetent  military  administration.  But  on  the 
whole  the  judgments  of  the  earlier  edition  must 
stand  as  they  were  first  written. 

Little  material  was  found  ready  at  hand  for 
writing  this  biography,  and  I  have  been  somewhat 
hampered  by  not  having  the  correspondence  or 
any  considerable  quantity  of  the  private  papers  of 
Cass.  Mr.  W.  L.  G.  Smith,  while  writing  "  The 
Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass,"  seems  to  have 
had  access  to  a  diary  kept  by  Cass  when  on  a  tour 
to  Greece  and  the  farther  East.  Of  the  original  I 
have  found  no  trace,  and  have  felt  at  liberty  to 
refer  to  Mr.  Smith's  excerpts.  In  other  particu 
lars  the  pages  of  the  public  documents  and  of 
established  authorities  have  furnished  me  with 
materials.  I  have  not  attempted  to  strengthen  my 
assertions  by  reference  to  my  sources  of  informa 
tion  ;  but  in  a  few  instances  I  have  indicated  by 
a  footnote  the  material  used,  when  I  have  con 
sciously  taken  a  suggestion  from  a  secondary  writer 
or  borrowed  a  phrase  or  statement  of  fact.  Occa- 


viii     PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION 

sionally  a  novel  or  important  assertion  has  been 
supported  by  a  reference  to  authority. 

To  those  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  details 
of  the  life  of  Cass,  it  may  seem  that  I  have  given 
him  praise  where  none  was  due,  and  at  times  made 
forced  and  unjustifiable  excuses.  This  is  the  nat 
ural  failing  of  a  biographer ;  but  I  believe  now,  as 
I  did  when  preparing  the  first  edition,  that  on  the 
whole  my  estimate  is  not  far  from  right,  although 
I  admit,  of  course,  that  I  may  be  mistaken,  know 
ing  how  difficult  is  the  task  of  forming  such  a 
judgment.  While  preparing  the  book  I  conferred 
with  political  foes  of  Cass  as  well  as  political 
friends,  and  found  a  remarkable  consensus  of 
opinion.  I  am  not  ready  to  believe  that,  if  he  was, 
as  is  often  charged,  a  time-server  and  a  "  dough 
face,"  bartering  the  approval  of  his  conscience 
in  exchange  for  political  preferment,  the  men 
whom  I  consulted,  and  whom  I  knew  to  be  men 
of  probity  and  sound  judgment,  who  were  well 
acquainted  with  Cass  in  his  lifetime,  and  some  of 
whom  were  his  earnest  political  opponents,  would 
have  had  unswerving  confidence  in  his  sincerity. 
I  may  venture  here  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
reader  to  a  fact  mentioned  in  the  text  and  given  on 
the  testimony  of  the  late  Alpheus  Felch,  that  the 
Michigan  delegation  in  Congress  approved  of  the 
Nicholson  letter  before  it  was  published,  which 


PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION       ix 

certainly  is  an  indication  that  it  was  not  a  mere 
political  subterfuge,  but  was  the  expression  of 
honest  opinion. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  book  I  received  valu 
able  suggestions  from  James  V.  Campbell,  Isaac 
P.  Christiancy,  George  V.  N.  Lothrop,  and  Al- 
pheus  Felch.  All  these  persons  were  well  ac 
quainted  with  the  public  career  of  Cass,  and  three 
of  them  knew  him  intimately.  I  obtained  some 
material  through  the  kindness  of  the  late  Charles 
H.  Bell  of  Exeter,  New  Hampshire.  Grateful 
acknowledgments  are  also  due  to  Professor  Isaac 
N.  Demmon,  and  to  Professor  Thomas  M.  Cooley, 
the  learned  writer  on  Michigan  history. 

ANDREW  c.  MCLAUGHLIN. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN, 
April  18,  1898. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.   THE  OLD  NORTHWEST 1 

II.  EARLY  LIFE 84 

III.  THE  WAR  OF  1812 53 

IV.  GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY         .        .  88 
V.  SECRETARY  OF  WAR 133 

VI.  MINISTER  TO  FRANCE 167 

VII.  A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  ;  THE  ELECTION  OF  1844  197 
VIII.  SENATOR  ;     CANDIDATE    FOR    THE    PRESIDENCY  ; 

SQUATTER  SOVEREIGNTY 225 

IX.  SENATOR;  THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850          .        .  262 
X.  THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE  ;  THE 

NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY     .        .        .  293 
XI.  SECRETARY    OF    STATE  ;    SECESSION  ;    THE    LAST 

YEARS 328 

INDEX 367 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

LEWIS  CASS Frontispiece 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady  in  the  Library  of  the 
State  Department  at  Washington. 

Autograph  from  the  Chamberlain  collection,  Boston 
Public  Library. 

The  vignette  of  Mr.  Cass's  home,  Detroit,  Mich.,  is 
from  a  drawing,  after  a  photograph  furnished  by  C.  M. 
Burton,  Esq.,  of  that  city.  Page 

WILLIAM  HULL facing    84 

From  a  painting  by  Rembrandt  Peale,  after  Stuart,  in 
the  possession  of  Hull's  grand-daughter,  Mrs.  Sterling 
Smith,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Autograph  from  the  Chamberlain  collection,  .Boston 
Public  Library. 
JAMES  BUCHANAN facing  206 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady  in  the  Library  of  the 
State  Department  at  Washington. 

Autograph  from   the  Chamberlain  collection,  Boston 
Public  Library. 
HOWELL  COBB facing  328 

From  a  photograph  by  Brady  in  the  Library  of  the 
State  Department  at  Washington. 

Autograph  from  the  Chamberlain  collection,  Boston 
Public  Library. 


LEWIS  CASS 


CHAPTER   I 

THE   OLD   NORTHWEST 

THE  five  States  north  of  the  Ohio  River  form 
an  historical  and  a  geographical  unit.  They  have 
their  individual  peculiarities,  but  possess  common 
traditions  and  doubtless  a  common  destiny.  Their 
history  does  not  begin  with  the  Ordinance  of  1787. 
Long  before  this  characteristic  American  constitu 
tion  was  passed,  or  the  Puritan  of  New  England 
sought  a  new  home  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  this 
portion  of  our  country  had  its  records  and  its  an 
nals.  In  its  later  development  under  American 
auspices  it  felt  the  fashioning  influences  of  the  past. 
Tendencies  strengthened  by  age  cannot  be  counter 
acted  in  a  moment.  Time  and  trial  are  necessary 
elements  in  such  a  transformation  as  that  which 
rejuvenated  the  old  Northwest,  filled  it  with  vigor, 
with  energetic  American  life  and  modern  zeal  for 
industry  and  political  activity.  The  United  States 
was  the  third  power  to  occupy  it.  The  earlier 
tenures  by  France  and  England  furnished  obsta 
cles  in  the  way  of  later  American  progress. 


2  LEWIS  CASS 

The  Northwest  is  the  first  foster  child  of  the 
Republic.  The  principles  of  Americanism  now 
seem  inborn  and  inbred;  but  foster  child  it  is,  and 
its  growth  has  been  influenced  by  its  parentage 
and  early  training.  Into  parts  of  the  country 
north  of  the  Ohio  the  people  from  the  South  and 
East  came  suddenly  and  in  swarms,  which  changed 
the  face  of  nature  so  quickly  that  the  historian  has 
been  content  with  exclamation.  But  Michigan 
was  not  thus  re-clothed  and  energized  in  a  mo 
ment.  Wisconsin  lagged  and  shuffled  in  her  pro 
gress.  Even  Illinois  and  Indiana  were  slightly 
retarded  by  inherited  incumbrances.  It  is  true 
that  "north  of  the  Ohio  the  regular  army  went 
first,"1  and  the  settler  followed  in  its  wake.  But 
the  regular  army  does  not  transform  and  renovate 
or  sweep  away  on  its  bayonets  the  customs  of  a 
century's  growth. 

American  statesmanship  is  not  confined  to 
waging  political  warfare  or  to  winning  victories  of 
diplomacy.  A  good  portion  of  the  life  of  Lewis 
Cass  was  spent  in  striving  to  Americanize  Mich 
igan  and  other  portions  of  the  Northwest,  to  intro 
duce  popular  government,  modern  methods  of  legal 
procedure,  modern  habits  of  life,  modern  civiliza 
tion.  In  the  development  of  Michigan  from  terri 
torial  confusion  and  uncertainty  to  the  order  of 
statehood,  there  were  constant  exertions  to  over 
come  inertia  and  to  break  away  from  the  sluggish 
forces  of  the  past.  While  guiding  and  directing 

1  "Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  vol.  i.  p.  24. 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  3 

these  exertions,  while  inculcating  democratic  ideas, 
while  holding  forth  attractions  to  settlers,  while 
struggling  for  the  independence  of  the  Northwest 
against  British  aggressions,  Cass  was  performing 
the  work  of  a  national  statesman  and  his  efforts 
were  of  national  concern. 

Popular  government  was  but  slowly  introduced 
into  a  territory  which  had  been  long  contentedly 
under  the  sway  of  absolutism.  Sault  de  Ste. 
Marie  was  established  fourteen  years  before  Phila 
delphia;  Detroit  but  nineteen  years  after  her 
Quaker  sister.  And  yet,  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  years  after  Penn  begged  his  colonists  not  to 
be  "so  governmentish,"  the  inhabitants  of  Mich 
igan  were  living  without  capacity  to  appreciate  or 
desire  to  know  the  delights  of  political  controver 
sies,  which  were  so  dear  to  the  Americans  of  the 
coast.  For  more  than  a  century  after  the  explo 
ration  of  the  Northwest  its  history  pertained  to 
that  of  Canada,  and  that  portion  of  the  country, 
which  was  first  settled  and  first  came  under  Cana 
dian  influence,  was  the  last  to  free  itself  from 
trammels  of  Celtic  bondage  and  provincial  igno 
rance. 

The  French  with  gracious  ease  seemed  to  insinu 
ate  themselves  into  the  western  country,  following 
the  watercourses  as  great  highways  to  the  unex 
plored  interior.  Long  before  the  institutional 
Englishman  plodded  his  way  westward  to  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  the  Frenchman  had  traversed  the  country 
of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi  valley, 


4  LEWIS  CASS 

and  was  familiar  with  the  haunts  of  the  beaver. 
The  proselyting  spirit  of  religion  and  the  spirit 
of  trade  vied  with  each  other  in  efforts  to  lead  the 
way.  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Recollet 
fathers  landed  at  Quebec,  prepared  to  begin  a 
work  of  conversion  among  the  Indians.  Five 
years  before  the  founding  of  Plymouth  Champlain 
knew  something  of  the  great  West.  Gradually, 
by  way  of  the  Ottawa  River  and  Georgian  Bay, 
the  Western  country  was  discovered,  French  sol 
dier  or  priest  boldly  entering  unexplored  rivers 
or  skirting  the  coasts  of  unknown  lakes  with  calm 
courage  or  with  a  simple  faith  which  drove  out 
fear.  Wisconsin  was  known  before  Rhode  Island 
was  settled;  and  the  hardy  Jesuits  began  their 
work  in  northern  Michigan  before  Puritanism  had 
more  than  emerged  from  behind  its  stockades  in 
a  corner  of  rocky  New  England. 

But  the  Iroquois  could  not  be  charmed  by 
chanted  vespers  nor  softened  by  Christian  influ 
ence.  The  priest  endured  tortures  and  prayed 
without  ceasing  and  without  avail.  Had  he  been 
successful,  the  Indians  of  western  New  York  and 
northern  Ohio  would  have  been  won  over  to  pur 
poses  of  French  statecraft.  They  would  have 
become  an  implacable  enemy  to  Dutch  aggression, 
an  impassable  barrier  to  the  advance  of  English 
traders.  As  it  was,  England's  enemies  were  pushed 
northwest  into  the  upper  lake  region,  and  the  Ohio 
valley  was  kept  by  the  savage,  until  the  English 
farmer,  in  response  to  demands  of  trade  and  agri- 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  5 

culture,  carried  with  him  over  the  mountains  the 
Penates  of  a  constitutional  state.  Ohio  had  no 
history  until  the  American  colonist  was  ready  to 
enter  the  country,  ready  to  establish  there  real 
nerve  centres  of  English  influence,  real  vital  and 
life-giving  homes  of  English  politics  and  English 
civilization. 

There  is  nothing  more  interesting  in  the  course 
of  history.  The  heathen  and  savage  guarded  till 
the  fullness  of  time  a  land  destined  to  become  the 
home  of  American  constitutionalism,  not  to  be 
blighted  by  imposed  governments  ordained  by 
Richelieu  and  the  state-absorbing  monarchs  of 
France.  Long  after  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  were 
known  and  their  rivers  described  with  some  pre 
tense  at  accuracy,  Ohio  was  a  terra  incognita,  the 
shores  of  Lake  Erie  unknown,  the  Ohio  and  the 
Wabash  confused.  Not  till  after  the  middle  of 
the  last  century  was  there  anything  like  an  accu 
rate  knowledge  of  that  portion  of  the  Northwest 
which  was  nearest  to  English  settlements  and 
naturally  the  most  accessible  to  the  French.  Even 
the  Connecticut  Land  Company  in  1796  found, 
by  its  surveys,  that  the  Connecticut  Reserve  had 
a  million  acres  less  than  geographical  ignorance 
had  anticipated.1  This  explains  to  some  extent 
why  the  occupancy  of  Ohio,  signalized  by  the 
landing  of  the  "new  pilgrims,"  at  Marietta,  differs 
from  the  occupation  of  many  other  portions  of  the 
Northwest. 

1  Hinsdale,  The  Old  Northwest. 


6  LEWIS  CASS 

Neither  the  daring  voyages  of  Hennepin,  whose 
lies  reveal  a  glimmer  of  truth  and  cloud  an  envi 
able  reputation,  nor  the  explorations  of  Joliet  and 
Marquette  need  be  recounted  here.  The  journey 
of  La  Salle,  who  in  1682  floated  his  canoe  down 
the  Mississippi  and  took  possession  of  the  country 
in  the  name  of  King  Louis,  proclaimed  the  birth 
of  New  France  with  its  two  heads,  as  Parkman 
has  so  graphically  expressed  it,  one  in  the  cane- 
brakes  of  Louisiana  and  the  other  amid  the  snows 
of  Canada.  But  the  task  of  connecting  these  two 
heads,  of  vitalizing  the  whole  monster,  of  filling 
its  veins  with  life-giving  blood,  was  difficult  and 
in  the  end  impossible.  Efforts  were  strenuously 
made  to  hold  firmly  the  portions  first  known  to 
French  influence.  Jesuits  and  traders  settled  in 
Wisconsin  and  Michigan.  In  1671  Saint-Lusson, 
in  solemn  fashion,  in  presence  of  Indian  braves 
and  Frenchmen  at  the  Sault,  took  possession  of 
the  surrounding  country  with  overawing  pomp  and 
splendor.  The  great  historian  of  French  America 
may  well  suggest  that  all  that  remains  of  this 
pompous  sovereignty  is  the  "accents  of  France  on 
the  lips  of  some  straggling  boatman  or  vagabond 
half-breed."  Yet  this  occupancy  meant  the  intro 
duction  of  French  ideas,  of  French  methods  and 
policy  of  state,  of  French  civilization  guarded  or 
retarded  by  the  dictates  of  an  absolute  monarch. 
It  meant  that  a  century  and  a  half  was  to  pass 
before  Michigan  could  cast  aside  her  foreign  trap 
pings  and  take  her  place  as  a  prosperous  Ameri- 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  7 

can  territory  with  progressive  American  ideas. 
Ohio,  which  hardly  knew  the  face  of  a  white  man 
until  the  New  Englander  came  over  the  mountains 
with  school-book  and  hymnal  in  his  hands,  was 
ready  for  statehood  in  fifteen  years  from  that  im 
migration.  Michigan  had  to  serve  a  dreary  and 
necessary  tutelage  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  sev 
enty-five  years  from  its  first  settlement  before  it 
struggled  irregularly  to  its  place  beside  the  neigh 
boring  States.  Wisconsin,  discovered  by  the 
pushing  fur  trader  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  has  seen  only  within  the  last  half  century 
the  beginnings  of  agricultural  and  manufacturing 
life. 

The  fur  trade  induced  the  French  to  take  pos 
session  of  Michigan  and  to  hold  it  against  all 
English  aggression.  Late  in  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury  there  were  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  English 
of  New  York  to  attract  the  Indians  with  English 
goods  and  rum,  but  all  efforts  to  turn  the  fur  trade 
from  Montreal  to  New  York  were  unavailing.  If 
these  attempts  had  been  successful,  the  history  of 
the  northern  lake  region  would  have  been  totally 
different.  Michigan  would  have  been  an  English 
colony  before  Georgia,  and  in  all  probability  would 
not  for  a  century  have  lagged  behind  that  State 
in  progress.  Nothing  but  concentrated  and  patri 
otic  action  could  win  the  Northwest  to  England. 
For  Louis  XIV.  took  thought  for  the  fur  trade, 
and  every  element  of  Canadian  progress  or  failure 
was  of  interest  to  him.  He  "subsidized  nearly 


8  LEWIS  CASS 

every  branch  of  trade  and  industry,  and  in  other 
instances  did  for  the  colonists  what  they  would  far 
better  have  learned  to  do  for  themselves." 1  What 
ever  revenue  he  obtained  from  Canada  was  derived 
from  the  fur  trade,  and  this  trade  must  be  sup 
ported  by  the  power  and  cunning  of  France.  He 
was  ready  to  salve  his  conscience  with  the  state 
ment  that  brandy  not  only  secured  the  trade  of 
Indians  but  drew  them  from  English  Protestantism 
within  the  blessed  influences  of  the  true  religion.2 
Yet  the  Northwest  was  really  held  for  France 
by  those  whom  Governor  Denonville  himself  de 
scribed  as  the  damaging  element  in  Canadian  life. 
The  fur  trade  was  "  hardy,  adventurous,  fascina 
ting."  Every  effort  was  made  to  keep  it  under 
the  control  of  the  government,  that  the  king  might 
find  remuneration  for  vast  outlays  and  that  the 
colonists  might  not  feel  its  fascinations  too  strongly. 
Trade  was  put  in  a  straight- jacket  and  chained  to 
Montreal;  monopoly  succeeded  monopoly  in  suc 
cessive  failures.  But  trade  is  aggressive  if  it  ex 
ists  at  all,  and  it  broke  from  its  fastenings  and 
flung  away  restraints.  The  Indians  were  inter 
cepted  on  their  way  to  Montreal,  were  "drenched 
with  brandy,"  and  their  beaver  skins  bought  for 
a  song.  Finally  the  adventurous  and  reckless 
among  the  settlers  fled  to  the  western  woods,  where 
they  might  live  or  trade  as  they  desired.  These 
law-breakers  did  now  for  France  the  work  which 

1  Parkman's  Old  Regime  in  Canada,  p.  284. 

2  Ibid.  p.  327. 


THE   OLD   NORTHWEST  9 

she  was  not  quite  ready  to  do  for  herself.  These 
wandering  bush-rangers  held  the  Northwest  against 
the  English,  and  became  the  first  white  settlers 
of  the  Northern  States.  The  English  of  New 
York  were  feeling  their  way  in  the  direction  of 
the  fur  country,  and  even  before  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  Northwest  might  have 
fallen  into  the  grasping  clutches  of  English  trade, 
to  be  settled  by  Englishmen  and  ruled  with  Eng 
lish  methods,  if  the  hardy,  lawless  coureur  des 
bois  had  not  pushed  his  way  into  the  coveted  coun 
try. 

The  bush-rangers  hated  England  and  adored 
the  France  whose  laws  they  disregarded.  They 
established  trading  posts  throughout  the  wilder 
ness  some  years  before  they  made  the  attempt  at 
permanent  settlement.  With  an  accurate  know 
ledge  of  the  topography  of  the  country  they  took 
positions  which  in  later  years  have  been  singled 
out  for  purposes  of  trade  as  well  as  defensive  war 
fare.  Du  Lhut  established  a  post  on  the  northern 
shore  of  Lake  Superior  to  prevent  the  possible 
approach  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  from  the 
north.  Governor  Denonville  was  obliged  to  ask 
this  man,  who  at  one  time  was  in  danger  of  attract 
ing  all  the  youths  of  New  France  to  the  woods,  to 
fortify  the  straits  as  a  barrier  to  English  advance 
in  the  South.  In  spite  of  restrictive  laws  and  the 
displeasure  of  Louis  himself,  who,  with  a  natural 
love  of  order  and  method,  was  sorely  annoyed  at 
the  irregularities  of  the  straggling  coureurs  des 


10  LEWIS  CASS 

bois,  who  seemed  to  be  destroying  his  fondest 
hopes  of  systematic  and  concentrated  settlement 
along  the  St.  Lawrence;  in  spite  also  of  hardships 
and  privations,  the  reckless  bush-rangers  increased 
in  numbers,  until  it  was  said  that  every  family  of 
quality  in  Canada  could  count  its  friends  and  re 
latives  among  the  rollicking  outlaws,  while  the 
despairing  English,  longing  for  the  beaver  of  Mich 
igan,  announced  that  they  too  must  have  "bush 
lopers." 

A  "picturesque"  element  were  these  men  in  the 
life  of  early  Canada,  picturesque  on  their  return 
to  brawl  and  gamble  in  the  settlements  after  a 
long,  successful  journey  of  fur  hunting,  and  "ar 
tistic,"1  as  with  courage  and  reckless  thoughtless 
ness  they  made  their  way  into  the  western  wilder 
ness.  But  they  were  more  than  picturesque  and 
artistic.  They  early  influenced  the  savages  to 
hate  the  English,  and  to  look  upon  the  French  as 
their  allies,  and  this  was  of  vast  importance  in  the 
after  efforts  for  domination.  Moreover,  with  a 
marvelous  adaptability,  many  assumed  Indian  hab 
its  and  ingratiated  themselves  by  becoming  In 
dians.  After  years  of  law-breaking  or  wood-ran 
ging,  unused  to  the  amenities  of  civilization  or  the 
restraints  of  law,  they  settled  through  the  western 
country  with  Indian  wives  or  concubines,  raised  a 
brood  of  half-breed  children,  and  passed  their  days 
in  worse  than  savage  idleness. 

When  the  time  came  to  change  French  for  Eng- 

1  Parkman's  Old  Regime  in  Canada. 


THE  OLD   NORTHWEST  11 

lish  control,  the  Indians  reluctantly  consented,  and 
down  to  the  middle  of  the  present  century,  although 
the  British  were  generally  preferred  to  the  Ameri 
cans,  the  French  were  greatly  preferred  to  either. 
"Whatever  may  have  been  the  reason,"  said  Gov 
ernor  Cass,  "the  fact  is  certain  that  there  is  in 
the  French  character  peculiar  adaptations  to  the 
habits  and  feelings  of  the  Indians,  and  to  this  day 
the  period  of  French  domination  is  the  era  of  all 
that  is  happy  in  Indian  reminiscences."1  At  the 
Sault  de  Ste.  Marie,  in  1826,  a  Chippewa  chief, 
addressing  the  American  agent,  thus  pathetically 
referred  to  the  happy  days  of  the  French  dominion 
in  the  West :  "  When  the  Frenchmen  arrived  at 
these  falls  they  came  and  kissed  us.  They  called 
us  children  and  we  found  them  fathers.  We  lived 
like  brethren  in  the  same  lodge,  and  we  had  always 
wherewithal  to  clothe  us.  They  never  mocked  at 
our  ceremonies,  and  they  never  molested  the  places 
of  our  dead.  Seven  generations  of  men  have 
passed  away,  but  we  have  not  forgotten  it.  Just, 
very  just,  were  they  towards  us."  2 

"The  French  empire  in  America,"  says  Park- 
man,  "could  exhibit  among  its  subjects  every 
shade  of  color  from  white  to  red,  every  gradation 
of  culture  from  the  highest  civilization  of  Paris 
to  the  rudest  barbarism  of  the  wigwam."3  The 
savoir  vivre  of  these  people  displayed  itself.  With 

1  Historical  Sketches  of  Michigan,  p.  24. 

2  Mrs.  Jameson,  Winter  Studies,  etc.  p.  130. 
8  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  p.  69. 


12  LEWIS  CASS 

their  influence  over  the  Indians  and  their  traditions 
of  inertia,  their  hatred  of  innovation  and  their 
utter  lack  of  ability  to  understand  constitutional 
principles  or  legal  procedure,  they  formed  a  con 
ditioning  element  in  the  development  of  the  West. 
An  experienced  observer  writing  in  1845  assures 
us  that  the  average  French-Canadian  voyageur 
had  less  perception  and  general  intellectual  capa 
city  than  his  Indian  companion.1  These  men,  and 
their  fathers  before  them,  living  in  ignorance,  fell 
to  a  plane  below  the  ignorant  savage  with  whom 
they  mingled.  At  the  present  day  the  half-breeds 
form  a  large  shiftless  element  among  the  woods 
men  of  the  northern  lake  region.  Many  of  these 
bush-rangers,  leading  Indian  lives,  were  scattered 
among  the  western  tribes,  but  besides  these  a  large 
number  of  watermen,  retired  from  active  employ 
ment,  formed  rude  settlements  along  the  streams 
and  bays  which  open  into  the  great  lakes.  Here 
in  unambitious  content  they  spent  their  lives  and 
perpetuated  their  lazy  characteristics  in  a  numer 
ous  progeny.  Often  Indian  wives  tilled  the  fields 
while  the  gossiping  voyageur  smoked  away  the 
day.  In  some  of  the  more  regular  settlements 
there  were  French  women,  and  though  there  was 
a  remarkable  ignorance  of  agricultural  methods, 
the  men  succeeded  in  raising  enough  to  keep  their 
families  in  comfort. 

The  first  settlements  in  Wisconsin  were  all  of 
this  irregular  kind.     Retired  watermen,  in  their 

1  H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Ondota. 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  13 

narrow  farms  fronting  the  river,  lived  in  blissful 
ignorance  of  any  aim  in  life  except  to  live.  The 
coureur  des  bois  settled  thus  as  fancy  dictated. 
Such  an  irresponsible  settlement  was  the  one  at 
Prairie  du  Chien.  And  a  like  settlement  grad 
ually  grew  up  at  Green  Bay,  begun  near  the  mid 
dle  of  the  last  century,  and  slowly  augmented  by 
the  advent  of  unemployed  engagees.  Their  small 
farms  were  tilled  with  care  sufficient  to  secure  the 
necessary  crops  of  wheat  and  peas.  At  the  begin 
ning  of  this  century  it  was  impossible  to  tell  what 
blood  flowed  in  the  veins  of  the  settlers.  There 
was  only  one  woman,  we  are  told,  in  the  latter 
settlement  who  pretended  to  be  "all  white,"  and 
she  had  been  "accidentally"  imported.  Neverthe 
less  the  manners  of  these  simple  people  were  fas 
cinating,  for  in  spite  of  the  admixture  of  the  blood 
of  the  red  man,  who  has  his  own  dignity  and  stately 
ease,  they  never  lost  the  graces  of  old  France. 
Here  at  Green  Bay  there  were  good  examples  of 
what  these  semi-French  conceived  to  be  govern 
ment.  Many  are  the  amusing  stories  of  how  Jus 
tice  Keaume,  in  patriarchal  fashion,  enforced  his 
own  sweet  will  as  the  law  of  the  land.  Well  on 
in  the  present  century,  when  Wisconsin  was  fairly 
under  American  government  and  there  was  an  ef 
fort  to  introduce  popular  methods,  this  curious  old 
justice  knew  much  more  of  Coutume  de  Paris 
than  of  the  common  law.  His  jackknife  in  the 
hands  of  an  extemporized  constable  performed  the 
functions  of  a  common  seal,  and  he  gave  his  unique 


14  LEWIS  CASS 

decisions  in  his  broad  French  or  broken  English 
without  reference  to  anything  but  the  law  of  preju 
dice. 

Turning  to  Michigan,  we  find  there  various 
settlements  of  this  kind,  founded  under  similar 
conditions;  but  these  did  not  become  centres  of 
growth  and  development  under  the  French  regime. 
Michigan  was  the  home  of  the  beaver,  and  the 
French  authorities  soon  realized  the  importance  of 
securing  this  portion  of  the  West  by  responsible 
settlements.  La  Motte  Cadillac  seems  first  to 
have  entertained  the  idea  of  making  "the  straits" 
a  centre  of  French  control  in  the  West,  to  defend 
the  fur  trade,  prevent  English  encroachments,  and 
assure  permanent  influence  over  the  neighboring 
Indian  tribes.  Already  renowned  as  a  faithful 
officer  and  soldier,  he  at  last  gained  the  end  of  his 
desires,  and  in  1701  reached  Detroit  with  his  com 
pany  of  soldiers  and  artisans.  These  early  settlers 
were  not  lowborn  or  lawless.  Everything  was 
conducted  in  an  orderly  and  systematic  manner, 
under  the  auspices  of  government.  The  slur 
passed  upon  the  citizens  of  Detroit  by  Governor 
Hull  and  Judge  Woodward  in  October,  1805, 
was  a  needless  one.  "When  it  is  remembered," 
they  said,  "that  the  troops  of  Louis  XIV.  came 
without  women,  the  description  of  persons  consti 
tuting  the  second  generation  will  not  be  difficult 
to  conceive."1  La  Hontan's  graphic  description 
of  how  women  were  sent  over  in  cargoes  to  become 

1  Michigan  Pioneer  Col,  vol.  viii.  p.  404. 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  15 

the  wives  of  the  Canadian  settlers  is  well  known. 
Mother  Mary,  not  entirely  pleased  with  such  con 
signments  of  mixed  goods  ("une  marchandaise 
melee"},  complained  of  "beaucoup  de  scandale." 
Doubtless  Canada  has  been  feebly  blessed  by  these 
persons  and  their  descendants.  But  such  were 
not  the  early  settlers  of  Detroit.  The  whole  his 
tory  of  that  city  shows  that  the  residents  were  of 
no  mean  birth,  surely  not  in  a  demoralized  condi 
tion,  or  from  a  low  and  depraved  ancestry.  Into 
various  portions  of  Canada  many  respectable  and 
even  noble  persons  immigrated,  and  the  permanent 
settlements  of  Michigan  were  not  less  favored. 

For  various  reasons  Detroit  developed  but  slowly 
after  this  auspicious  foundation.  At  times  the 
French  authorities  were  unfriendly  to  colonization. 
They  were  encouraged  in  their  hostility  by  the  mis 
sionaries  on  the  one  hand,  who  feared  the  vices  of 
civilization,  and  who  desired  that  the  Indians  should 
come  in  contact  with  none  but  themselves,  and  by 
the  fur  trader  on  the  other,  who  was  naturally 
averse  to  the  advance  of  the  homes  of  men  into 
the  midst  of  the  lodges  of  the  beaver.  Moreover 
there  was  no  instinctive  appreciation  of  the  fitness 
of  things.  Land  was  granted  under  the  most  ab 
surd  feudal  restrictions,  so  to  be  held  until  Ameri 
can  practical  sense  disposed  of  the  absurdities. 
The  place  was,  however,  a  centre  of  French  influ 
ence  in  the  West,  and  gradually  assumed  perma 
nence  and  a  degree  of  prosperity.  It  was  not  an 
ill-formed,  straggling  village,  where  rough  water- 


16  LEWIS  CASS 

men  and  half-breeds  passed  their  lazy  lives.  We 
have  reason  to  believe  that  from  the  first  there 
was  comfort,  and  occasionally  even  an  approach  to 
elegance,  in  the  houses  that  clustered  in  and  around 
the  stockade.  For  some  of  the  early  townsmen 
were  artisans,  who  desired  by  work  and  by  a  very 
moderate  thrift  to  establish  themselves  and  their 
families  in  comfort.  It  will  not  do,  however,  to 
banish  entirely  from  the  colony  the  picturesque- 
bush-ranger.  The  town,  which  had  been  placed 
in  the  very  midst  of  his  hunting  grounds,  was 
often  visited  when  savings  were  to  be  squandered 
in  merriment  and  riot;  the  descendants  of  these 
happy  trappers  and  watermen  were  the  boatmen 
of  the  earlier  part  of  this  century ;  their  frail  ca 
noes  carried  Cass  to  many  a  treaty  ground,  from 
Detroit  to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  to  Green 
Bay  or  Chicago. 

Seventy-five  years  ago  Detroit  was  still  a  French 
settlement,  and  fifteen  years  ago  its  French  char 
acteristics  were  evident  to  the  stranger  in  a  casual 
visit  to  the  city.  The  few  Scotch  who  came  in 
during  the  latter  years  of  the  English  dominion 
affiliated  with  the  French  and  appreciated  their 
conservatism.  In  consequence  of  this  ancestry, 
there  has  always  been  a  steadiness  and  sobriety  in 
business  and  a  caution  and  reserve  in  society.  It 
has  not  felt  until  recently  the  stir  of  American 
life  as  has  Buffalo,  or  Cleveland  placed  in  the 
heart  of  "New  Connecticut."  It  can  scarcely  be 
doubted  that  conservative  French  Catholicism  has 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  17 

had  its  influence  in  giving  a  peculiar  tone  and  set 
ting  a  dignified  pace.  It  is  true  that  after  Detroit 
had  been  ostensibly  an  American  city  for  forty 
years,  the  introduction  of  New  England  life  gave 
the  town  a  look  of  prosperity  and  activity  which 
was  lacking  to  the  Canadian  towns  across  the  river. 
But  the  comparison  rather  accentuates  than  con 
tradicts  the  previous  assertions.  Not  long  ago, 
easily  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living  in  De 
troit,  the  well-to-do  French  peasant  held  his  acres 
and  refused  twice  their  value,  or  demanded  per 
haps  that  the  city  put  a  rail -fence  on  each  side 
of  the  street  which  eminent  domain  had  forced 
through  his  land.  In  1818  the  people  of  Michigan 
refused  to  take  upon  themselves  the  popular  privi 
leges  offered  by  the  charter  of  1787.  A  number 
of  other  examples  might  be  given  of  how  conserva 
tism  has  influenced  Michigan  and  its  chief  city  in 
their  development  into  modern  American  life. 

For  a  long  time  Detroit  was  practically  Michi 
gan.  For  French  and  American  tendencies  are 
different.  If  the  Americans  had  first  settled 
Michigan,  the  farmer  would  have  pressed  into  the 
country  in  the  footsteps  of  the  fur  trader,  farms 
would  have  appeared  in  secluded  places  in  the 
forests,  and  a  town  would  have  grown  up  from 
natural  causes  and  developed  as  the  needs  of  the 
farming  community  of  the  back-country  dictated. 
But  as  the  gregarious  and  social  tendencies  of  the 
French  have  made  Paris  the  centre  of  their  life, 
so  in  the  western  woods  all  roads  led  to  the  rude 


18  LEWIS  CASS 

metropolis,  and  it  had  an  unusual  dignity  and 
importance.  We  are  enabled,  therefore,  to  con 
centrate  our  attention;  and  in  examining  with 
some  care  the  life  of  Detroit  and  its  vicinity  we 
shall  see  the  lives  of  the  better  element  of  the 
French  settlers  in  the  northwest.  Their  habits 
are  the  best  guide-posts  to  their  characters,  and 
best  indicate  the  peculiar  position  of  these  people 
in  northwestern  history. 

Down  to  1763  the  city  grew  slowly  by  the  im 
migration  of  discharged  soldiers  or  settlers  from 
Canada.  In  the  time  of  the  English  domination 
there  came  a  few  English  traders  and  a  few  canny 
Scotch  with  their  habits  of  thrift  and  deftness. 
But  the  French  habitant  does  not  allow  his  ease  to 
be  interfered  with.  Everywhere  the  world  pre 
sents  the  same  roseate  hue  to  his  contented  vision. 
After  1796  some  Americans,  making  their  way 
into  the  territory,  jostle  him  about  a  little,  insist 
on  trial  by  jury,  talk  to  him  of  popular  elections 
and  other  incomprehensible  problems,  suggest  the 
idea  that  Detroit  may  become  a  great  commercial 
centre.  He  is  called  upon  by  an  impudent  inves 
tigating  committee  to  show  the  title  deeds  to  the 
farm  which  his  father  and  father's  father  held  be 
fore  him.  A  look  of  uncertainty  and  mild  inquiry 
occasionally  appears  on  his  placid  face.  The  nar 
row  streets  are  filled  with  Indians  rushing  to  ex 
change  their  peltries  for  American  goods,  and  to 
pay  enormous  prices  for  inferior  articles.  After 
the  war  of  1812  a  few  Marietta  settlers  find  their 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  19 

way  to  the  Straits,  and  a  few  educated  families 
from  New  England  form  a  conspicuous  element  in 
the  city's  life.  But  the  Frenchman  passes  this  all 
by  with  a  shrug  at  the  curious  activity  of  the  en 
ergetic  "  Bostonais."  His  social  life  flows  smoothly 
on  in  the  same  old  channels.  Until  the  people 
from  New  England  and  New  York  begin  to  pour 
into  the  territory  through  the  newly-opened  Erie 
canal,  one  can  trace  few  changes  in  the  general 
characteristics  of  the  place.  Detroit  in  the  first 
quarter  of  this  century  has  still  the  tint  of  a  by 
gone  age.  One  feels,  as  he  looks  at  her,  that  he 
has  slipped  back  into  the  Middle  Ages,  long  before 
there  was  any  prophetic  consciousness  of  the  dust, 
din,  and  uproar  of  the  busy  and  scientific  nine 
teenth  century.  He  sees  a  picture  of  unpreten 
tious  comfort  and  happy  listlessness.  Without 
even  the  knowledge  that  Protestantism  was  a  reli 
gion,  the  habitant  clung  to  his  beloved  Catholic 
worship.  His  daily  life  was  graced  with  interrup 
tions  of  picturesque  festivals,  cheered  with  merry 
makings  and  adorned  with  highly-colored  ceremo 
nies.  Like  the  neighbors  of  Goldsmith's  good 
vicar,  he  "observed  festivals  and  intervals  of  idle 
ness  and  pleasure;  kept  up  the  Christmas  carol, 
sent  true-love  knots  on  Valentine  morning,  ate 
pancakes  on  Shrovetide,  and  religiously  cracked 
nuts  on  Michaelmas  eve."  With  the  simple  joy 
which  comes  with  the  consciousness  of  irresponsi 
bility,  he  took  part  in  games  and  jollities,  which 
are  far  below  the  responsible  dignity  of  later 
American  money-making. 


20  LEWIS  CASS 

The  habitants,  whose  farms  stretched  back  from 
the  river,  with  scarcely  a  gap  between  them  from 
Lake  Erie  to  Lake  St.  Clair,  had  in  general  the 
characteristics  of  the  better  class  of  Canadian 
farmers.1  They  were  honest,  hospitable,  religious, 
inoffensive  and  uninformed,  possessed  of  simplicity 
and  civility.  Without  ambition  and  attached  to 
ancient  prejudices,  they  sought  no  more  than  the 
necessaries  of  life.  Many,  as  a  result  of  happy 
inaction,  were  poor  without  realizing  their  poverty ; 
some  were  well-to-do  without  boasting  of  their 
wealth.  Strangers  were  received  with  unembar 
rassed  politeness,  without  traces  of  rusticity  in 
manners  or  speech.  Mrs.  Jameson,  the  delightful 
critic  of  Shakespeare,  who  visited  this  western 
country  in  1837,  writes,  in  wondering  admiration 
of  the  polished  address  of  the  simple  farmer :  "  If 
you  would  see  the  two  extremes  of  manner  brought 
into  near  comparison,  you  should  turn  from  a 
Yankee  store-keeper  to  a  French  Canadian."  His 
language,  too,  betokened  his  pure  descent ;  for  the 
patois  of  the  French  settler  of  the  Northwest  is 
largely  a  myth  created  by  the  reasoning  imagina 
tion  of  thoughtless  travelers  or  indiscriminating 
writers.  The  bushranger,  whose  settlements  have 
been  described,  doubtless  often  cumbered  his  speech 
with  Indian  words  and  confused  it  with  half-re 
membered  constructions.  But  such  was  not  the 
case  with  the  habitants  near  Detroit  or  the  average 
farmer  of  Canada.  It  was  "curious  "  but  not  un- 

1  George  Heriot,  Travels  in  Canada,  London,  1807. 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  21 

usual  to  find  in  the  western  wilderness  "a  perfect 
specimen  of  an  old-fashioned  Norman  peasant  — 
all  bows,  courtesy,  and  good  humor;"  and  his 
speech  was  not  less  purely  Celtic  than  were  his 
unalloyed  courtesy  and  grace. 

The  Frenchman  is  dependent  on  companionship. 
The  pioneer  life  of  the  American  farmer  ripens 
individuality  and  intensifies  salient  characteristics, 
until  the  word  "character"  itself  is  synonymous 
with  person ;  but  nothing  is  more  evident  than  the 
utter  lack  of  individuality  or  aggressive  personal 
ity  among  the  Western  Frenchmen.  When  one 
of  a  class  is  seen  all  his  fellows  are  known  to  us. 
The  Frenchman  could  not  think  of  going  alone 
into  the  woods  to  cut  out  of  the  very  forest  a  home 
for  himself  and  family,  a  feat  of  wonderful  self- 
sufficiency  so  common  to  the  independent  Ameri 
can  farmer.  One  farm  must  be  within  hailing 
distance  of  another,  or  the  French  farmer  is  miser 
able  in  his  loneliness.  Down  the  Detroit  Kiver 
the  farms  extended  back  from  the  stream,  each 
having  its  own  water  frontage.  Such  "pipe  stem  " 
tracts  may  still  be  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  Detroit, 
like  those  of  the  quaint  settlements  along  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  its  tributaries.  The  social  farmers 
could  shout  to  one  another  from  their  doorsteps,1 
and  would  carry  on  their  gossipy  conversations 
when  they  ought  to  have  been  tilling  their  fields. 
The  stream-haunting  Canadian  has  been  happily 
compared  to  the  beaver  or  the  muskrat.  At  times 

1  Bela  Hubbard,  Memorials  of  a  Half  Century,  p.  116. 


22  LEWIS  CASS 

he  seemed  to  live  in  the  waters  and  marshes  around 
him,  building  his  cabin  where  it  was  accessible 
only  to  a  canoe.  The  miasma  which  he  breathed 
seemed  to  furnish  him  with  food  rather  than  en 
gender  disease.  A  century  and  more  after  the 
founding  of  Detroit  the  farms  still  clung  lovingly 
to  the  river  banks,  and  a  mile  back  from  the 
streams  was  still  seen  the  untouched  forest.  The 
troops,  who  came  from  Ohio  to  Detroit  in  1812, 
found  only  one  muddy  road  winding  along  between 
stream  and  wood,  a  situation  which  offered  the 
lurking  savages  every  opportunity  for  ambush  and 
attack.  What  roads  there  were,  the  water -loving 
habitant  despised;  but  over  his  rough  highways 
he  jogged  merrily  to  market  with  a  two-wheeled 
Norman  cart  and  rough  dwarfish  pony,  a  curious 
mongrel  animal  of  unknown  pedigree,  but  with 
an  endurance  and  possible  speed  which  delighted 
the  simple  peasant  or  his  rollicking  sons. 

Covetousness  was  the  most  infrequent  vice ;  for, 
although  they  did  not  know  the  best  arts  of  hus 
bandry,  these  simple  farmers  nevertheless  provided 
from  their  own  resources  everything  necessary  to 
supply  their  wants.  The  arts  of  the  tailor  and 
mason  were  often  added  to  the  clumsy  skill  of  the 
agriculturist;  while  tanning  and  shoemaking  were 
not  uncommon  acquirements.  Their  implements 
were  crude,  rough,  and  heavy;  their  methods  of 
tillage  ludicrous  to  the  modern  farmer.  The  cum 
bersome  plough,  to  which  was  attached  a  pony,  or 
mayhap  a  cow  or  steer,  was  used  somewhat  effect- 


THE   OLD  NORTHWEST  23 

ively,  but  the  corn  was  tilled  with  the  Indian  hoe 
in  the  simple  fashion  learned  from  the  red  man. 
In  fruit-raising  they  excelled;  beautiful  orchards 
were  often  crowded  into  the  narrow  farms ;  cher 
ries  and  peaches  furnished  by  distillation  an  ex 
hilarating  drink,  and  cider  continually  provided 
a  mild  stimulant.  But  the  French  farmer  did  not 
succeed  in  becoming  the  ruling  spirit  and  progres 
sive  citizen  of  the  West,  because,  as  a  French 
traveler  gravely  suggests,  he  talked  too  much  and 
consulted  his  wife  too  often,  and  spent  his  time  in 
argument  rather  than  in  work. 

The  ordinary  habitant ,  however  listless  and  un 
ambitious,  did  not  lack  many  comforts.  Gay  and 
happy  with  a  little,  he  often  indulged  even  in  the 
pomps  and  vanities  of  life.  Some  of  the  families 
had  plate  and  silks  and  luxuries  of  various  kinds, 
which,  though  not  paraded,  revealed  noble  descent, 
and  argued  the  existence  of  at  least  the  traditions 
of  wealth.1  The  houses  were  simple,  of  hewn  logs, 
occasionally  covered  with  clapboards,  and  lighted 
in  the  low  upper  story  with  quaint  dormer  win 
dows,  which  gave,  to  those  in  the  town  especially, 
a  Dutch  appearance,  and  suggested  to  the  New 
York  immigrant,  as  he  entered  the  territory,  the 
Knickerbocker  region  of  his  own  State.  Here 
the  people  lived  in  simple  and  picturesque  fashion. 
Their  amusements  were  many,  and  their  gayeties 
intense.  When  Detroit  under  its  American  rulers 
began  to  take  on  business  airs,  many  were  the 

1  Campbell,  Outlines  of  Political  History  of  Michigan,  p.  212. 


24  LEWIS  CASS 

grumblings  at  the  ordinances  which  prevented 
horse-racing  through  the  narrow  streets,  or  inter 
fered  with  the  jolly  game  of  ten-pins,  for  which 
the  street  was  used  as  an  alley,  and  a  cannon  ball 
as  a  missile.  When  winter  set  in,  the  people  gave 
themselves  up  to  pleasure-seeking.  Their  shaggy 
ponies,  which  had  been  allowed  all  summer  long 
to  roam  the  woods  or  scamper  uncontrolled  along 
the  river  banks,  now  became  their  special  pride. 
The  swiftest  of  the  herd  was  dearly  cherished; 
and  the  highest  ambition  of  the  farmer  was  to 
drive  the  fastest  pony.  The  frozen  river  was  the 
theatre  of  delights,  or  the  "Grand  Marais"1  a 
few  miles  above  the  city,  swollen  with  autumn 
rains,  offered  its  icy  attractions.  Sunday,  as  in 
most  Catholic  countries,  was  a  day  for  enjoyment 
as  well  as  solemn  worship,  and  Saturday  was  gen 
erally  an  occasion  of  unrestrained  merry-making. 
Indeed,  one  need  not  single  out  days.  Sleigh- 
riding,  dancing,  feasting,  and  uncontrolled  levity 
filled  up  the  passing  winter  weeks.  A  summer's 
providence  was  easily  lost  in  a  winter's  mild  dissi 
pation. 

Such  was  the  life  of  a  simple  and  illiterate  peo 
ple,  and  such  it  long  continued  to  be.  Years  after 
the  introduction  of  American  farming  methods, 
business  enterprise  and  governmental  policy,  we 
find  the  same  unprogressive  spirit,  unaffected  by 
the  serious  humor  with  which  the  American  under- 

1  Sheldon,  Early  History  of  Michigan,  p.  371 ;  Memorials  of  a 
Half  Century,  p.  141. 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  25 

takes  both  his  work  and  his  pleasure.  One  natu 
rally  lingers  over  this  picture  of  early  social  sim 
plicity  and  unrestrained  gayety;  for,  leaving  out 
of  consideration  the  influences  on  history  and  de 
velopment,  all  that  now  remains  is  a  "pipe-stem" 
farm  or  a  huge  old  pear-tree,  to  remind  us  of  this 
mediaeval  mosaic  snugly  fitted  into  modern  civili 
zation. 

One  must  not  think,  however,  that  all  the  set 
tlers  were  of  this  fortunate,  light-hearted,  comfor 
table  class,  who  labored  lazily  in  summer  and 
spent  the  winter  in  energetic  frivolity.  These 
formed  the  majority  at  Detroit  and  in  the  eastern 
portion  of  Michigan.  But  two  classes  can  be 
differentiated.  There  were  some  of  the  lower  class 
who  gave  up  a  life  of  wandering  but  never  became 
used  to  the  graces  and  loose  restraints  of  such 
civilization.  A  few  retired  watermen  and  bush 
rangers  settled  there,  in  despair  over  their  vanish 
ing  profession.  The  "dark-complexioned  imps 
with  high  cheek-bones  and  indescribably  mischie 
vous  eyes,"  whom  Harriet  Martineau  described  as 
Flibbertigibbets  rowing  or  diving  or  playing  pranks 
on  the  shores  of  Michigan,  were  the  half-breed 
progeny  of  these  men,  who  joined  themselves  in 
informal  wedlock  with  the  beauties  of  the  forest. 
There  were  some  of  these  bronzed  watermen,  un 
attractive  though  picturesque,  even  in  Acadian 
Detroit;  and  they  formed  the  most  ignorant  and 
the  rudest  element  of  early  Michigan. 

Frenchtown,  where  Monroe  now  stands,  had  a 


26  LEWIS  CASS 

goodly  number  of  farms  nestling  up  to  each  other, 
with  their  heads  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Raisin; 
and  these  were  mostly  inhabited  by  French  Cana 
dians  quite  inferior  to  those  near  Detroit.  They 
exhibited  more  than  the  usual  density  of  ignorance 
and  stupidity  in  tillage.  As  late  as  1816  General 
Cass,  in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  war,  stated 
that  not  a  pound  of  wool  was  manufactured  by  a 
person  of  Canadian  descent  in  the  Territory,  al 
though  four  fifths  of  the  inhabitants  were  of  that 
descent;  the  fleece  of  the  sheep  was  thrown  away 
or  used  to  cover  up  a  cellar  window.  The  making 
of  soap  for  family  purposes  was  an  American  inno 
vation.  Especially  the  Raisin  settlers,  it  is  appar 
ent,  were  slothful  to  the  point  of  poverty.  In  the 
destruction  and  desolation  left  by  the  war  of  1812, 
they  seemed  caught  in  the  meshes  of  ignorance 
and  despair;  and  the  bounties  of  government  were 
needed  to  extricate  them.  In  1807  the  farmers  of 
Canada  had  begun  to  adopt  from  the  English  the 
idea  of  fertilizing  their  exhausted  farms;1  but 
long  after  that  the  French  of  Michigan  dumped 
all  fertilizers  into  the  rivers.2 

Once  more  a  comparison  between  Michigan  and 
Ohio  will  show  how  different  were  the  American 
and  the  earlier  French  settlers.  One  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  Ohio  Company  was  to  provide  for  the 
services  of  a  suitable  person  as  a  public  teacher 
for  the  settlement  on  the  Ohio.  The  directors 

1  Travels  in  Canada,  George  Heriot. 

2  Cass's  Letters,  State  Archives,  Lansing,  Michigan. 


THE  OLD   NORTHWEST  27 

were  "requested  to  pay  as  early  attention  as  possi 
ble  to  the  education  of  youth  and  the  promotion 
of  public  worship  among  the  settlers,"  and  to 
employ  an  instructor  "eminent  for  literary  accom 
plishments."  In  Michigan,  a  hundred  years  after 
its  settlement,  general  education  was  unthought 
of.  A  few  of  the  more  wealthy  and  worldly  of 
the  Detroit  townsmen  sent  their  sons  to  the  East. 
An  occasional  school  was  of  no  influence,  no  cen 
tre  of  enlightenment.  In  1817  the  "Gazette,"  a 
struggling  newspaper  of  Detroit,  thus  encouraged 
the  French  to  effort :  "  Frenchmen  of  the  Territory 
of  Michigan,  you  ought  to  begin  immediately  to 
give  an  education  to  your  children.  In  a  little 
time  there  will  be  in  this  Territory  as  many  Yan 
kees  as  French,  and  if  you  do  not  have  your  chil 
dren  educated  the  situations  will  all  be  given  to 
the  Yankees,"  —  a  touching  utilitarian  appeal  to 
come  in  the  very  year  when  curious  old  Judge 
Woodward  was  coining  from  his  inventive  brain 
"Catholepistemiad,  or  University  of  Michigania." 
For  just  at  that  time  the  Yankee  minority  were 
beginning  to  think  of  the  text-book  and  the  ferule. 
Many  a  year  after  this  editorial  the  French  seemed 
fully  convinced  that  it  is  folly  to  be  wise.  Few 
children  learned  to  read,  but  the  patient  priest 
taught  them  their  catechism  and  showed  them  how 
to  tell  their  beads  with  devotional  regularity.1 
The  people  were  ignorant  of  the  English  language, 
and  often  did  not  know  of  the  legislation  enacted 

1  Hubbard,  Memorials  of  a  Half  Century,  p.  140. 


28  LEWIS  CASS 

by  their  new  rulers.  In  1810  a  petition  was 
presented  requesting  the  publication  of  laws  in 
French  as  well  as  English. 

The  slow  method  of  conducting  legal  business, 
coming  in  with  the  Americans,  was  a  source  of 
never  ending  surprise  to  the  ordinary  inhabitant, 
who  had  rarely  come  into  contact  with  any  but  the 
sharp  edge  of  the  law.  The  proceedings  of  the 
new  courts  puzzled  him.  Unaccustomed  to  trial 
by  jury,  he  could  see  no  advantage  in  that  intri 
cate  and  tedious  method  of  deciding  a  suit  which 
would  have  been  disposed  of  in  a  moment  by  the 
French  or  the  English  authorities  before  the  ar 
rival  of  the  technical  American.  For  a  long  time 
all  legal  business,  where  a  Frenchman  was  con 
cerned,  was  carried  on  through  the  medium  of  an 
interpreter  —  a  clumsy  method  at  the  best.  The 
attorney  was  a  new  species,  which  seemed,  ghoul- 
like,  to  fatten  on  other's  misfortunes,  and  to  take 
a  gruesome  pleasure  in  seeking  out  forgotten  titles 
and  undivided  interests.  The  Americans  have  not 
unjustly  been  called  a  litigious  people.  Often  the 
enthusiastic  Western  lawyer  encouraged  litigation, 
and  there  was  every  temptation  at  Detroit  to  peer 
into  neglected  corners;  for  scarcely  a  landholder 
in  the  Territory  knew  how  he  held  his  land.  The 
French,  on  the  other  hand,  were  exasperating  to 
the  busy  Yankee ;  for  they  never  did  to-day  what 
could  be  delayed  till  the  morrow.1 

1  Report  of  Committee  of  House  of  Representatives  relative  to 
State  of  Territory  of  Michigan,  1807. 


THE  OLD   NORTHWEST  29 

The  first  public  building  in  an  American  settle 
ment  is  the  court-house,  the  second  the  jail,  and 
the  third  the  schoolhouse,  where  religious  services 
are  sometimes  held.1  The  first  thing  the  French 
do  is  to  erect  a  church  under  the  direction  of  a 
fatherly  priest,  and  the  village  clusters  around  it, 
or  stretches  out  from  it  along  the  river  bank. 
The  noticeable  feature  to-day  in  the  antique  vil 
lages  of  Canada  is  the  little  chapel  surmounted  by 
a  cross.  By  its  side  are  the  priest's  tidy  dwelling 
and  flower  garden,  all  in  a  neat  and  holiday  attire 
in  comparison  with  the  houses  which  crouch  in 
humble  penitence  near  by. 

Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes  and  other  settlements 
were  places  of  importance  in  Northwestern  history, 
and  there,  too,  the  French  influence  is  discernible. 
But  though  more  than  once  French  conservatism 
acted  as  a  brake  on  the  wheels  of  progress,  Illi 
nois  and  Indiana  did  not  feel  the  burden  of  the 
old  occupancy  as  did  Michigan.  The  old  towns 
of  these  two  States  had  passed  a  century  of  listless 
existence,  not  varied  by  the  introduction  of  new 
ideas,  or  bothered  by  needless  civilization,  when 
the  pushing  American  settler  came  to  turn  them 
upside  down  with  his  provoking  hurry  and  energy. 

Lewis  Cass  was  a  statesman  of  the  Northwest. 
He  was  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  Northwestern  affairs ;  and  when  he 
passed  to  a  broader  field,  he  remained  for  years 

1  Schoolcraft,  Journey  in  Central  Portion  of  Mississippi  Valley, 
p.  37. 


30  LEWIS  CASS 

the  most  conspicuous  representative  of  the  people 
of  the  Northwest.  In  the  earlier  period  he  was 
a  leader,  and  guided  rather  than  obeyed  the  reins 
of  the  popular  will.  When  in  later  years  he 
ceased  to  guide,  he  long  represented  his  constitu 
ents.  Their  progress  can  be  seen  in  a  study  of 
his  life.  His  life  can  be  seen  in  studying  the 
progress  of  his  section  of  the  country.  No  ade 
quate  portrait  of  the  man  can  be  obtained,  unless 
there  is  a  background,  which  will  throw  his  char 
acteristics  into  relief.  In  the  pages  which  follow 
there  will  be  no  effort  to  measure  exactly  French 
resistance  to  American  civilization  and  govern 
ment,  or  to  determine  accurately  the  weight  of 
Cass's  influence  in  making  Michigan  American. 
Such  tasks  are  from  the  nature  of  things  impossi 
ble.  But  there  will  be  an  attempt  to  recount  his 
work,  and  to  exhibit  him  in  proper  perspective. 
It  is  evident  that  there  were  difficulties  to  be  over 
come.  The  Northwest  was  a  natural  pendant  to 
the  St.  Lawrence  Valley ;  but  won  by  the  English, 
and  later  won  from  them  by  the  Americans,  it 
became  pendant  to  the  country  east  of  the  Appala 
chians.  Its  political  allegiance  was  thus  deter 
mined.  But  its  social  existence,  its  real  political 
life,  its  individuality  could  not  be  recreated  by 
force  and  arms.  Perhaps  one  is  not  altogether 
wrong  in  thinking  that  as  the  civil  law  and  French 
custom  remained  in  Louisiana  after  its  acquisition 
by  the  United  States,  Michigan,  too,  might  in  no 
small  measure  have  retained  the  permanent  im- 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  31 

press  of  French  ideas,  had  it  not  been  for  the  en 
ergy  of  one  of  the  most  American  of  American 
statesmen.  However  that  may  be,  the  character 
istics  of  the  French  settlers  have  their  importance 
in  Northwestern  history,  and  even  if  we  admit  that 
this  element  in  Michigan  was  submerged  by  the 
inflowing  tide  from  the  Eastern  States  as  early  as 
1830  or  1835,  a  narrative  of  Northwestern  develop 
ment  must  take  its  beginnings  in  an  account  of  the 
French  occupation,  and  must  consider  the  nature 
of  French  life  and  habits  of  thought  and  action. 
The  habitants  were  not  a  source  of  danger;  they 
were  not  treacherous  conspirators;  the  descendants 
of  the  more  intelligent  and  well-to-do  became  sub 
stantial  citizens  of  Detroit  and  of  other  cities. 
And  yet  one  must  see  that  the  assimilation  of  this 
element  was  not  an  unimportant  task.  Doubtless 
Judge  Schley  spoke  in  exaggerated  phrase  when 
he  wrote  of  Detroit,  in  1802 :  "  Nothing  frightens 
the  Canadians  like  taxes.  They  would  prefer  to 
be  treated  like  dogs,  and  kenneled  under  the  whip 
of  a  tyrant,  than  contribute  to  the  support  of  a 
free  government."  But  this  exaggeration,  if  such 
it  be,  leads  one  to  realize  the  underlying  truth, 
and  to  see  how  different  was  the  situation  in  no 
small  portion  of  the  Northwest  from  that  obtaining 
in  other  parts  of  the  United  States  in  early  times. 
One  other  phase  of  Northwestern  history  needs 
to  be  examined  if  we  are  to  understand  the  devel 
opment  of  the  country,  or  appreciate  the  work  of 
its  statesmen.  The  possessors  of  the  St.  Lawrence 


32  LEWIS  CASS 

valley  Lad  a  traditional  control  over  the  Indians. 
Wolfe's  victory  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham  has 
been  called  the  most  important  date  in  modern 
history,  and  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the 
United  States.  It  had  its  influence  on  the  North 
west.  English  rum  took  the  place  of  French 
brandy.  English  presents  supplanted  French  tact. 
For  the  rest  of  the  century  the  Indians  looked  to 
the  English  for  encouragement  and  protection. 
During  the  Revolution,  Detroit  was  the  centre  of 
their  dealings.  Hamilton,  "the  hair  buyer,"  paid 
the  bounty  on  American  scalps,  and  doled  out 
rum  in  enormous  quantities.  "I  observe  with 
great  concern,"  wrote  Governor  Haldiman,  "the 
astonishing  consumption  of  rum  at  Detroit,  amount 
ing  to  the  rate  of  17,500  gallons  per  year."1  By 
the  peace  of  1783  the  Northwest  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  but  the  military  posts  were  not 
given  up  by  the  British.  The  Indians  were  en 
couraged  2  to  prevent  the  Americans  from  entering 
the  country  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  only  a  corner 
of  that  region  was  occupied  before  Wayne's  vic 
tory  over  the  Indians  in  1794.  As  the  French 

1  Haldiman  Papers,  Michigan  Pioneer  Collection. 

2  A  full  examination  of  the  original  material  of  the  period  en 
ables  one  to  say  with  assurance  that  the  English  government  at 
no  time  openly  instigated  the  Indians  to  hostilities  against  the 
United  States.     But  the  English  officials  in  this  country  sympa 
thized  with  the  Indians  in  their  desire  to  retain  all  the  country 
north  of  the  Ohio ;  and  some  of  them  at  critical  juncture  gave 
material  aid  to  the  red  men  in  the  way  of  food  and  blankets,  if 
not  ammunition. 


THE  OLD  NORTHWEST  33 

fur  trader  had  hindered  the  encroachments  of  the 
British,  so  now  the  fur  trader  of  English  Montreal 
sought  to  prevent  the  Americans  from  entering 
the  fur  region  of  the  Northwest.  Detroit  was  not 
given  up  till  July  11,  1796.  It  is  said  that,  on 
leaving  the  fort,  the  English  filled  the  wells  with 
rubbish,  and  destroyed  the  windmills  of  the  vicin 
ity.  This  is  only  an  ill-humored  tradition;  but 
beyond  all  doubt  they  left  behind  them  the  rub 
bish  of  a  cruel  and  unnecessary  occupancy,  much 
less  easily  removed  and  much  more  inimical  to  the 
advancement  of  American  interests  than  was  any 
material  debris.  The  Indians  long  remained  de 
pendents  of  the  British  and  attached  to  British 
interests.  A  great  portion  of  the  life  of  Cass  was 
devoted  to  winning  the  Indians  to  their  proper 
allegiance,  and  obtaining  a  proper  respect  for 
American  authority.  All  the  energies  of  this 
Northwestern  leader  were  not  absorbed  by  two 
tasks,  counteracting  British  influences  and  intro 
ducing  American  democracy.  But  these  first  pre 
sented  themselves  as  he  entered  the  field  of  na 
tional  statesmanship ;  these  form  the  starting  point, 
and  explain  many  a  circumstance  throughout  the 
whole  course  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY   LIFE 

ONE  who  examines  the  genealogical  records  of 
New  England  will  observe  that  the  name  Cass 
appears  not  infrequently.  One  branch  of  the 
family  is  traceable  to  John  Cass,  of  Hampton, 
born  in  1644.  From  him  descended  Jonathan 
who,  in  the  days  before  the  Revolutionary  War, 
was  living  in  Exeter,  N.  H.  He  seems  to  have 
been  a  young  man  of  exceptional  vigor  and  pro 
mise.  The  place  of  his  residence  is  pointed  out 
with  interest,  and  the  local  historian  finds  reason 
to  describe  him  in  a  manner  likely  to  enlist  sym 
pathy  and  attention.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution  Jonathan  was  an  energetic  young  black 
smith,1  too  full  of  life  and  eager  restlessness  to  be 

1  William  T.  Young  in  his  Life  of  Lewis  Cass,  published  at 
Detroit  in  1852,  and  written  doubtless  in  some  measure  from  in 
formation  obtained  from  Cass  himself,  calls  Jonathan  a  "  me 
chanic."  W.  L.  G.  Smith,  in  his  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass, 
says  that  the  father  was  a  part  of  the  time  engaged  in  cutting 
logs  and  making  lumber.  The  late  Charles  H.  Bell  of  Exeter, 
who  has  written  the  history  of  that  place,  assured  me  after  ex 
amining  the  town  records  that  he  was  a  blacksmith.  Probably 
he  was  not  engaged  permanently  in  any  one  employment ;  but  I 
am  led  to  believe  that  he  was  not  shiftless  and  did  not  live  in 
poverty. 


EARLY  LIFE  35 

wedded  to  the  fiery  joys  of  the  forge,  and  too  full 
of  patriotism  to  await  the  second  call  to  arms  when 
the  battle  of  Lexington  proclaimed  that  war  was 
actually  begun.  His  comrades  afterwards  remem 
bered  him  as  an  erect  handsome  man  with  keen 
black  eyes,  and  so  he  appears  in  the  artistic  por 
trait  still  preserved  by  his  descendants. 

He  must  have  been  in  his  twenty  -third l  year 
when  he  entered  the  army,  which  he  is  said  to 
have  done  almost  immediately  after  Lexington. 
He  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and 
seems  to  have  been  actively  engaged  at  Princeton, 
Trenton,  Monmouth,  and  all  the  other  important 
battles  of  the  war  in  the  central  and  northern  part 
of  the  country.  His  merits  won  him  an  ensigncy 
as  early  as  1777,  and  by  the  close  of  the  war  he 
had  secured  a  captain's  commission.  At  that  time 
he  returned  to  Exeter,  to  remain  till  other  duties 
called  him  once  more  to  a  life  of  greater  excitement 
and  activity  when  the  presence  of  British  emissa 
ries  in  the  West  demanded  a  second  enlistment. 

In  1781  he  married  Mary  Oilman,  who  belonged 
to  a  branch  of  the  Gilman  family  which  traces  its 
ancestry  back  to  Norfolk,  England,  where,  in 
1558,  were  living  the  forefathers  of  those  who  in 
1635  landed  in  Boston,  and  began  life  in  the  New 
World.  In  a  house  which  stood  on  the  east  side 
of  Cross  Street,  now  Cass  Street,  Exeter,  Lewis 
Cass  was  born  October  9,  1782.  The  house  was 

1  Niles,  vol.  xxxix.  p.  157 ;  Evarts,  Muskingum  County,  Ohio, 
p.  352.  Contra,  Smith's  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass,  p.  15. 


36  LEWIS  CASS 

not,  as  Mr.  Smith  describes  it,  a  "small  unpre 
tending  wooden  dwelling-house,"  nor  is  there  any 
reason  for  crediting  the  tradition  that  young  Lewis 
was  cradled  in  "a  sap-trough."  The  building  was 
large  for  those  days,  or  at  least  far  from  small  and 
humble.  It  was  one  of  the  customary  pine  boxes 
of  New  England,  with  a  central  chimney  and  a 
front  hall,  on  each  side  of  which  opened  large, 
square,  comfortable  rooms.  Jonathan  no  doubt 
was  able  to  furnish  a  good  cradling  for  his  first 
born.  Lewis  was  the  eldest  of  six  children,  the 
youngest  of  whom  was  only  eight  years  his  junior. 
His  boyhood  fell  in  the  uneasy  anxious  times  of 
the  Confederation.  The  air  was  full  of  political 
clamor,  and  electric  with  dreaded  disaster.  State 
selfishness  and  political  greed  were  the  accompani 
ments  of  personal  selfishness.  Avarice  and  dis 
honesty  were  the  natural  effects  of  a  demoralizing 
war.  All,  who  thought,  hoped  desperately  or  fore 
told  the  worst.  In  after  years  Lewis  Cass  looked 
back  upon  those  boyhood  years  with  a  memory 
retentive  of  their  deep  impressions.  If  in  later 
years  he  had  a  never-failing  love  for  the  Union 
and  the  Constitution,  he  might  trace  it  in  part  to 
the  relief  that  came  when  the  Constitution  was 
adopted,  and  the  Union  was  no  longer  a  shadow. 
"You  remember,  young  man,"  he  said  to  James 
A.  Garfield  in  1861,  "that  the  Constitution  did 
not  take  effect  until  nine  States  had  ratified  it. 
My  native  State  was  the  ninth.  It  hung  a  long 
time  in  doubtful  scale  whether  nine  would  agree; 


EARLY  LIFE  37 

but  when,  at  last,  New  Hampshire  ratified  the 
Constitution,  it  was  a  day  of  great  rejoicing.  My 
mother  held  me,  a  little  boy  of  six  years,  in  her 
arms  at  a  window,  and  pointed  me  to  the  bonfires 
that  were  blazing  in  the  streets  of  Exeter,  and 
told  me  that  the  people  were  celebrating  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution.  So  I  saw  the  Constitu 
tion  born,  and  I  fear  I  may  see  it  die." 

His  native  State  had  known,  before  that  joyful 
ratification,  much  of  turbulence  and  disorder. 
The  paper-money  mob  of  1786  was  one  of  those 
explosions  which  were  only  too  common  through 
out  the  distraught  Confederation.  Paper  money 
had  played  many  a  prank  in  colonial  times,  but 
the  favors  of  an  unlimited  issue  were  still  eagerly 
sought  by  those  whom  the  war  had  impoverished, 
and  by  those  who,  restless  when  the  war  was  over, 
demanded  new  opportunities,  and  were  dissatisfied 
because  a  war  for  liberty  had  not  brought  them 
wealth,  honor,  and  the  golden  age  which  had  been 
preached  as  the  ever-present  heaven  of  democracy. 
The  contest  which  ensued  between  the  supporters 
of  law  and  the  mob  is  graphically  described  by 
local  historians.1  Jonathan  Cass,  whose  zeal  for 
authority  and  love  of  order  are  apparent  through 
out  life,  was  so  carried  away  by  enthusiasm,  tradi 
tion  tells  us,  that  in  his  eagerness  to  charge  upon 
the  grumbling  mob  he  leaped  his  horse  over  a 
well.  A  trivial  incident  this,  no  doubt,  but  it 
shows  what  sort  of  blood  was  in  the  family  veins. 

1  History  of  New  Hampshire,  by  McClintock,  p.  371. 


38  LEWIS  CASS 

It  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  a  biographer  to 
narrate  at  least  a  few  instances  of  prophetic  pre 
cocity.  But  none  are  to  be  told  of  Lewis  Cass. 
It  is  clear  that  in  early  years  he  was  fond  of  study, 
and  evinced  a  capacity  which  encouraged  his  father 
to  give  him  a  good  education.  In  1792,  when  the 
boy  was  scarcely  ten  years  old,  he  entered  the 
academy  in  Exeter,  and  came  into  the  stimulating 
presence  of  Benjamin  Abbott.  The  stern  discipline 
and  accurate  scholarship  of  the  principal  had  a 
moulding  influence  on  the  minds  of  his  pupils,  and 
the  years  spent  at  the  academy  were  important 
ones  in  the  life  of  Cass.  Nothing  especial,  how 
ever,  is  known  of  this  period  of  his  career.  Pre 
sumptions  of  fine  scholarship  have  been  made, 
perhaps  not  without  warrant.  Webster  thirty  years 
afterwards  remembered  him  as  "a  clever  fellow, 
good-natured,  kind-hearted,  amiable,  and  obli 
ging."  Perhaps  he  was  one  of  those  considerate 
school-fellows  who  refrained  from  laughing  at  the 
rustic  manners  and  uncouth  appearance  of  the 
youthful  Daniel,  and  thus  won  his  grateful  remem 
brance. 

Meantime  his  father,  who  had  been  unsuccess 
fully  presented  to  Washington  as  a  suitable  mar 
shal  for  the  State,  had  accepted  a  commission  in 
the  army  raised  for  the  defense  of  the  western 
frontier,  and  was  with  "Mad  Anthony"  in  his 
cunning  and  vigorous  campaign.  Major  Cass  was 
left  in  command  of  Fort  Hamilton,  and  retained 
command  until  the  treaty  of  Greenville.  Here  he 


EARLY  LIFE  39 

continued  to  live  for  some  time  while  Lewis  was 
carrying  on  his  studies  in  the  academy. 

There  have  been  many  conflicting  statements, 
needlessly  inaccurate,  concerning  the  education 
which  Cass  received.  There  is  still  in  existence 
in  Exeter  a  certificate,  supposed  to  be  a  copy  in 
the  handwriting  of  Cass  himself,  which  very  plainly 
sets  forth  the  advantages  which  he  secured.  It  is 
there  stated  that  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
academy  for  seven  years,  and  had  acquired  the 
principles  of  the  English,  French,  Latin,  and 
Greek  languages,  geography,  arithmetic,  and  prac 
tical  geometry;  that  he  had  made  "valuable  pro 
gress  in  the  study  of  rhetoric,  history,  natural 
and  moral  philosophy,  logic,  astronomy,  and  nat 
ural  law."  The  usual  testimony  of  good  moral 
character  follows  this  enumeration  of  his  acquire 
ments. 

The  course  of  Cass's  life  immediately  subsequent 
to  his  residence  at  the  academy  is  not  easily  dis 
cernible.  His  father  had  returned  from  the  West 
some  time  after  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  and  in  1799 
was  stationed,  probably  in  some  military  capacity, 
at  Wilmington,  Del.  A  few  months,  passed  in 
teaching  in  an  academy  at  that  place,  seem  to  have 
satisfied  young  Cass  that  the  uneventful  life  of  the 
schoolmaster  was  not  to  his  liking.  The  major  had 
brought  home  from  his  Western  sojourn  such  glow 
ing  accounts  of  opportunities,  that  pedagogics 
were  laid  aside  for  the  hardships  and  excitement 
of  pioneering.  Nothing  could  be  much  more  in- 


40  LEWIS  CASS 

congruous  than  Lewis  Cass  in  the  class-room  in 
those  restless  days  of  his  young  manhood  when  he 
was  energetic  to  the  very  point  of  wastefulness, 
and  burned  with  an  ardor  for  trial,  activity,  corn- 
bat.  The  family  slowly  made  their  way  into  the 
Ohio  valley.1  Lewis,  with  his  bundle  on  his  back, 
plodded  over  the  mountains  into  the  "Old  North 
west,"  which  was  yet  young  enough,  and  bore  the 
wrinkles  of  age  only  where  the  Frenchman  had 
introduced  antiquity  and  sloth.  Major  Cass  re 
signed  his  commission  at  Pittsburgh,  and  pushed 
on  into  Ohio. 

The  wilderness  which  he  had  left  after  the  treaty 
of  Greenville  was  a  wilderness  no  longer.  Now 
at  the  beginning  of  the  new  century  towns  were 
starting  up  as  apparitions,  here  and  there,  with 
ghost-like  quickness.  The  long  stretches  of  lonely 
forests,  which  he  had  known,  were  now  alive  with 
busy  farms  and  bright  with  wheat  and  maize.  All 
down  the  Ohio  valley  were  the  buzz  and  bustle  of 
industry.  The  New  Englanders  were  there  with 
their  thrift  and  their  parsimony  and  their  shrewd 
business  methods  which  astonished  and  annoyed 
the  easy-going  Southerner.  For  the  slave  owner, 
too,  was  there,  a  slave  owner  no  longer.  Many 
such  had  moved  to  the  unshackled  northwest,  now 
that  the  fear  of  the  Indians  was  removed,  and  with 
a  magnanimity  useless  on  the  plantations  of  the 
South  had  given  freedom  to  their  slaves.  Virginia, 

1  The  family  seems  to  have  spent  a  short  time  at  Harper's 
Ferry  and  Winchester.  See  Smith,  Life  and  Times  of  Cass,  p.  19. 


EARLY  LIFE  41 

Kentucky,  and  North  Carolina  lost  many  energetic 
citizens,  who  sought  the  untarnished  freedom  of 
that  new  land,  where  the  curse  of  slavery  could 
not  be  bequeathed  to  their  children.  Still  other 
immigrants  from  the  South,  however,  never  gave 
up  the  hope  of  introducing  the  system  which  the 
Ordinance  of  '87  forbade.  At  Marietta  and  in 
its  vicinity  were  the  driving  sons  of  Puritanism, 
who  had  begun  a  settlement  with  much  of  the  same 
serious  purpose  and  the  same  sad  energy  which 
had  marked  their  ancestors  of  the  rock-bound 
coast.  School  and  church  were  there;  and  much 
of  the  puritanic  ideal  alloyed  with  modern  zeal  for 
material  prosperity.  But  farther  to  the  west,  in 
the  direction  of  Cincinnati,  were  Southerners  full 
of  characteristic  hospitality  and  magnanimity  and 
Jeffersonism,  and  a  few  full  of  ignorance  and  sloth 
and  the  lazy  disposition  of  more  sunny  and  smiling 
skies.  This  was  no  place,  one  would  say,  for  him 
who  was  not  ready  to  make  his  way  with  hoe  and 
axe.  Yet  in  southern  Ohio  there  still  remains  a 
certain  modicum  of  this  unprogressive,  indolent 
element,  continually  presenting  the  query,  whence 
came  the  motive  and  the  energy  to  move  to  the 
northern  woods  at  all. 

Major  Cass  seems  to  have  brought  his  family 
to  Marietta  in  October,  1800,  and  to  have  gone 
north  to  the  vicinity  of  Zanesville  the  next  year. 
Lewis  Cass  probably  settled  in  Marietta  in  the 
latter  part  of  1799,1  and  began  there  his  study  of 

1  It  is  almost  impossible  to  determine  this  date  with  accu- 


42  LEWIS   CASS 

the  law  in  the  office  of  Mr.  R.  J.  Meigs,  who  was 
afterwards  governor  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  The 
major  located  forty  land  warrants,  for  one  hundred 
acres  each,  in  the  vicinity  of  Zanesville,  and  Lewis 
spent  at  least  a  portion  of  his  time  in  the  wilder 
ness,  helping  his  father  to  hew  his  way  to  comfort. 
Solomon  Sibley  on  his  way  to  Detroit  found  his 
friend  of  after  years  pounding  corn  in  a  hollow 
stump  before  his  father's  door,  and  the  traveler 
was  invited  to  partake  of  the  evening  meal,  the 
preparations  for  which  were  thus  primitively  be 
gun.  The  young  man,  eager  for  a  career,  and 
fond  of  study,  learned  from  experience  the  priva 
tions  of  frontier  life.  He  felt  the  impulses,  gen 
erous  and  strong,  which  come  to  the  woodsman. 
The  settlers  in  the  West  of  after  years  needed  to 
tell  him  nothing.  He  knew  their  needs,  he  real 
ized  their  capacities,  he  sympathized  with  their 
longings.  All  this  appreciation  of  Northwestern 
characteristics  moulded  his  career  and  increased 
his  usefulness. 

There  were  various  and  different  elements  in 
the  population  of  Ohio,  as  already  suggested ;  but 
everything  in  frontier  life  calls  for  activity  and 

racy.  I  have  thought  best,  in  spite  of  strong  evidence  for  the  date 
1800,  to  adopt  the  one  given  in  Young's  Life  of  Cass,  inasmuch 
as  Mr.  Young  is  supposed  to  have  had  the  advice  of  Cass  himself 
in  the  preparation  of  the  book,  and  the  copy  from  which  I  take 
the  statement  was  the  general's  own  copy.  If  such  an  evident 
mistake  had  been  made,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  would 
have  been  indicated  on  the  margin  by  the  subject  of  the  memoir. 
There  are  many  other  reasons  for  deciding  upon  this  date. 


EARLY  LIFE  43 

stimulates  to  energy.  Only  those  of  restless  dis 
position  or  fearless  independent  thought  were  apt 
to  leave  their  homes  in  the  East  to  begin  life  again 
in  the  West.  There  were  no  prescribed  customs, 
no  rut  for  thought's  progress,  no  smothering  upper 
crust  of  wealth  and  aristocracy.  Everybody  knew 
what  everybody  else  was  worth,  and  measured  with 
rude  exactness  the  height  of  the  true  man  with 
out  reference  to  the  length  of  the  purse  or  to  the 
pedestal  of  inherited  position.  Intimate  acquain 
tance  with  Nature  suggested  to  the  settler  breadth, 
generosity,  and  the  spirit  of  sturdy  independence. 
Land  was  almost  his  only  possession,  and  from 
the  time  of  Tacitus  land-owning  and  Anglo-Saxon 
freedom  have  been  curiously  interwoven.  Is  there 
no  indication  of  race  decay  in  these  latter  days 
when  Americans  give  over  to  Germans  and  Swedes 
the  title  to  their  western  prairies  ? 

In  those  days,  when  the  common  man,  by  virtue 
of  his  own  inherent  vigor,  was  pushing  his  way 
to  independence,  there  came  a  faith  in  the  energy, 
the  sagacity,  the  proper  impulses  of  this  same 
common  man.  Though  Cass  in  his  study  for  the 
bar  spent  much  of  his  early  manhood  in  Marietta, 
a  town  of  New  England  prejudices,  he  was  carried 
away  with  enthusiasm  for  popular  sovereignty  and 
faith  in  the  people,  the  loudly  proclaimed  doctrines 
of  Jefferson,  who  with  wondrous  cunning  was 
shaping  for  practical  political  service  in  America 
the  edge-tools  of  Eousseau,  which,  roughly  han 
dled,  had  cut  so  many  grievous  wounds  in  the  body 


44  LEWIS  CASS 

of  distressed  France.  Jefferson  was  to  American 
ize  and  make  practical  the  French  extravagances. 
Yet  all  the  antecedents  of  Lewis  Cass  were  Feder 
alist.  Can  it  be  fairly  charged,  as  it  was  in  after 
years  in  the  heat  of  party  contests,  that  he  became 
a  disciple  of  the  new  school  only  for  office  and 
lucre?  It  would  seem  not.  Meigs  was  a  Jeffer- 
sonian.  Others  of  the  pushing  politicians  were 
Virginians.  The  Federalists,  in  the  dread  of  the 
nightmare  Jeffersonism,  opposed  the  entrance  of 
Ohio  into  the  Union,  and  even  Manasseh  Cutler 
himself  was  in  opposition  to  a  policy  which  the 
ambition  of  youth  desired.  Surely,  if  prejudice 
does  not  blind,  one  can  see  other  forces  than  ava 
rice  driving  the  young  barrister  into  the  camp  of 
the  Democracy.  Ohio,  in  her  haste  to  become  a 
State,  and  in  her  hatred  of  those  who  hindered 
her,  in  her  dread  of  the  meddling  policy  repre< 
sented  by  St.  Clair,  adopted  a  constitution  which 
ought  to  have  warmed  the  heart  of  the  loudest  ad 
vocate  of  a  weak  government,  and  came  into  the 
Union  as  a  Jeffersonian  State. 

The  first  certificate  of  admission  to  the  bar 
under  the  new  constitution  of  1802  was  given  tc 
Lewis  Cass,  probably  in  the  autumn  of  1802.  Eb- 
enezer  Zane  had  cut  a  post-road  from  Wheeling 
to  Lewiston,  perhaps  the  first  piece  of  "internal 
improvement  "  undertaken  by  the  government. 
"Zane's  trace,"  a  winding  bridle-path  with  "cor 
duroy"  bridges,  earned  for  its  creator  three  sec 
tions  of  land  on  the  Muskingum,  and  there  in 


EARLY  LIFE  45 

1799  Zanesville  was  founded.  Soon  after  his  ad 
mission  to  the  bar  Cass  began  practice  in  this 
little  town,  which  was  then  struggling  up  in  the 
wilderness.  The  "streets,"  filled  with  underbrush 
and  lined  with  blackened  stumps,  offered  but  slight 
esthetic  attractions;  but  in  1804  Muskingum 
County  was  created,  and  Zanesville  assumed  the 
dignity  of  a  county  seat.  Cass  this  year  was 
elected  prosecuting  attorney  and  began  his  public 
career.  The  reputation  of  the  young  lawyer  seems 
to  have  been  already  somewhat  widely  diffused. 
This  was  partly  due  to  his  influential  friends  in 
Marietta  and  to  his  acquaintance  in  other  portions 
of  the  State. 

In  those  days  a  young  barrister's  duties  were 
not  confined  to  hanging  out  a  sign  and  listening 
for  a  client's  footsteps.  The  county  seats  were 
widely  separated  by  long  stretches  of  wilderness. 
Journeys  of  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
were  not  uncommon.  Judge  and  lawyers  mounted 
their  horses  and  started  on  the  circuit.  Occasion 
ally  an  old  Indian  trail  offered  unusual  facilities 
for  travel.  Sometimes  eight  or  ten  days  were 
spent  on  a  journey,  the  travelers  finding  shelter 
where  they  best  could,  at  times  thankful  for  dry 
ground  to  lie  upon,  and  again  warmly  welcomed 
to  a  lonely  log  cabin,  where  some  trustful  farmer 
from  over  the  mountains  was  endeavoring  to  sub 
sist  with  his  crop  of  Indian  corn  planted  at  ran 
dom  in  a  half -cleared  field.  Danger  often  added 
dramatic  interest  to  weariness.  Streams  swollen 


46  LEWIS  CASS 

with  rains1  must  not  be  regarded  as  barriers,  and 
the  horse  which  could  not  swim  was  of  little  use 
to  the  barrister.  Cass  in  after  years  merrily  re 
called  "the  dripping  spectacle  of  despair"  which 
he  exhibited  when  in  crossing  Scioto  Creek  his 
faithless  horse  threw  him  and  his  luggage  into  the 
water.  "These,  however,  were  the  troubles  of 
the  day;  but,  oh,  they  were  recompensed  by  the 
comforts  of  the  evening,  when  the  hospitable  cabin 
and  the  warm  fire  greeted  the  traveler !  —  when  a 
glorious  supper  was  spread  before  him,  —  turkey, 
venison,  bear's  meat,  fresh  butter,  hot  corn  bread, 
sweet  potatoes,  apple  sauce,  and  pumpkin  butter ! 
—  and  then  the  animated  conversation,  succeeded 
by  a  floor  and  a  blanket  and  a  refreshing  sleep ! "  2 

Courts  were  held  where  necessity  or  convenience 
dictated,  often  in  a  log  court-house  with  generous 
interstices  neither  chinked  nor  daubed;  at  times 
in  a  public  house  where  judge,  jury,  lawyers,  and 
witnesses  were  huddled  together  in  perplexing 
confusion;  not  infrequently  in  a  settler's  cabin 
where  a  court-room  was  quickly  improvised,  and 
the  judge  made  use  of  the  bed  for  his  august 
bench.  In  these  curious  journeys  there  was  mer 
riment  as  well  as  danger  and  fatigue;  and  in 
these  strange  court-rooms  there  was  much  of  legal 
learning  and  forensic  skill.  There  was  also  rare 
opportunity  for  sharpening  wit  and  increasing  self- 
reliance.  Justice  was  meted  out  with  a  quickness 

1  Letters  from  Illinois,  p.  61,  London,  1818. 

2  France,  its  King,  Court,  and  Government,  by  Lewis  Cass,  p.  121. 


EARLY  LIFE  47 

and  directness  often  unknown  in  these  artificial 
days  of  the  dilatory  plea.  Perhaps  it  was  a  result 
of  communion  with  Nature,  but  however  this  may 
be,  certain  it  is  that  he  who  was  not  ready,  direct 
and  keen,  fitted  into  no  place  in  the  judicial  sys 
tem  of  Ohio  in  those  days  of  itinerant  courts  and 
direct  justice. 

The  constitution  of  Ohio  provided  that  no  person 
should  be  a  representative  who  had  not  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  In  October,  1806, 
Cass  completed  his  twenty-fourth  year,  and  in 
spite  of  ineligibility  was  that  month  elected  to  the 
legislature  and  took  his  seat  on  the  first  Monday 
of  December.  He  became  at  once  an  influential 
member.  A  new  country  bestows  no  premium  on 
the  experience  of  age ;  young  men  are  for  counsel 
as  well  as  for  war. 

This  year  Burr  began  his  sinuous  operations  in 
the  West.  The  affair  was  long  a  puzzling  episode 
in  our  history.  Burr,  fallen  from  his  high  estate, 
was  prompted  by  a  restless  ambition  to  win  new 
glories  in  the  West.  Did  he  mean  to  establish  a 
colony  on  the  Washita  Eiver?  Was  he  planning 
an  expedition  against  the  Spanish  Dons?  Did  he 
fancy  himself  sitting  on  the  throne  of  the  Monte - 
zumas?  Did  he  actually  so  misinterpret  South 
western  spirit  that  he  hoped  he  might  detach  the 
Western  States  from  the  Union  ?  Only  recent  in 
vestigations  1  have  given  decided  answers  to  these 
questions.  The  first  was  his  ostensible  design, 

>    l  History  of  the  United  States,  Henry  Adams. 


48  LEWIS  CASS 

the  last  his  fondest  hope.  He  possibly  dreamed 
of  being  able  to  make  his  colony,  or  perchance 
New  Orleans,  the  basis  of  other  conquests,  relying 
on  his  star  of  destiny  to  guide  him  to  Mexican 
wealth  and  grandeur.  But  he  seems  to  have  sought 
much  fouler  fame  as  the  leader  of  a  Western  revo 
lution.  The  plaudits  of  the  Southwestern  cities 
in  an  earlier  visit  had  kindled  his  desires  and 
fanned  into  a  blaze  his  cynical  ambitions.  He 
lacked  all  moral  basis  for  his  intellectual  judg 
ments.  He  was  unable  to  appreciate  moral  enthu 
siasm  as  distinct  from  personal  greed.  He  could 
not  sympathize  with  the  generous  patriotism  and 
devotion  and  the  warm  love  of  country  in  the 
hearts  of  an  open-hearted  people,  whose  grum 
blings  he  would  torture  into  treason.  Parton  tells 
us  in  an  adroit  paradox  that  the  public  mind  was 
prepared  to  believe  anything  of  Burr,  provided 
only  that  it  was  sufficiently  incredible.  But  Burr 
himself  also,  in  the  dark  recesses  of  his  bright 
mind,  was  curiously  credulous  of  the  impossible. 

Blennerhassett,  a  fanciful  Irish  gentleman,  had 
expended  a  good  portion  of  a  modest  fortune  in 
the  purchase  and  adornment  of  a  small  island 
in  the  Ohio  River  some  twenty  miles  southwest  of 
Marietta.  Peace,  tranquillity,  innocence,  idyllic 
repose,  were  said  by  the  eloquent  Wirt  to  be  the 
tutelary  deities  of  this  new  Eden.  Into  this  gar 
den  of  primitive  bliss  or  modern  folly  Burr  came 
with  his  insinuating  manner  and  winning  address. 
Mrs.  Blennerhassett  was  charmed,  and  her  imagi- 


EARLY  LIFE  49 

native  husband  soon  quivered  with  eagerness  for 
colonization  and  conquest.  It  is  true  he  was  so 
near-sighted  that  on  his  gunning  expeditions  a 
servant  aimed  his  gun  for  him  and  told  him  when 
to  pull  the  trigger;  but  he  was  now  ready  to  hunt 
for  Spanish  Dons  and  to  begin  with  Burr  a  mili 
tary  expedition,  the  end  of  which  he  must  have 
partly  understood. 

Blennerhassett's  island  was  taken  as  a  rendez 
vous  for  the  conspirators.  But  General  Wilkin 
son,  on  whom  Burr  had  relied  for  assistance, 
concluded  that  he  did  not  wish  to  become  a  "  Wash 
ington  of  the  West;"  and  President  Jefferson, 
not  loath  to  suspect,  and  yet  surprisingly  blind, 
dispatched  a  "confidential  agent"  to  the  scene  of 
the  incipient  expedition.  By  him  Governor  Tiffin 
was  informed  that  there  was  something  of  strange 
purport  going  on  within  the  limits  of  the  State. 
A  message  stating  the  suspicions  of  the  governor 
was  sent  by  him  to  the  legislature,  and  that  body 
was  advised  to  take  necessary  measures  of  precau 
tion.  Cass  was  a  member  of  the  committee  ap 
pointed  in  pursuance  of  the  governor's  recommen 
dation.  He  had  often  visited  the  island,  and  had 
listened  to  the  eulogies  which  the  giddy  Blenner- 
hassett  lavished  upon  Burr,  and  now  that  his  sus 
picions  were  aroused  he  soon  found  reason  for 
hardening  them  into  conviction.  Young  as  he 
was,  he  seems  to  have  been  the  influential  and 
active  member  of  the  committee.  He  drafted  a 
bill  which  the  committee  reported,  and  he  vigor- 


50  LEWIS  CASS 

ously  supported  it  before  the  House.  The  gover 
nor  was  authorized  to  use  the  forces  of  the  State 
for  suppressing  the  undertaking,  and  he  acted  with 
corresponding  promptness  and  decision.  Boats, 
gathered  at  Marietta,  were  seized  by  the  militia, 
and  some  companies  of  young  woodsmen  and  farm 
ers,  who  were  gayly  bent  on  adventure  and  had 
been  charmed  with  the  novelty  and  possibly  the 
glory  of-  the  enterprise,  were  intercepted  on  their 
way  to  the  place  of  rendezvous.  This  was  the 
"first  blow"  to  the  conspiracy,  as  Jefferson  con 
fessed.  A  presidential  proclamation  was  issued 
shortly  before  the  Ohio  law.  Burr,  meeting  on 
his  way  down  the  Mississippi  with  the  news  of 
disaster,  resolved  to  trust  the  wilderness  rather  than 
the  courts  of  law.  He  was  captured,  brought  to 
trial  at  Richmond,  but  acquitted  for  lack  of  evi 
dence  of  participation  in  an  overt  act  of  treason. 

In  the  mean  time,  at  the  instigation  of  Cass,  the 
Ohio  legislature  adopted  a  resolution  expressing 
to  President  Jefferson  its  attachment  to  the  gov 
ernment,  its  confidence  in  his  administration,  and 
its  abhorrence  of  rebellion  and  insurrection.  This 
won  from  the  President  a  politic  reply,  in  which 
with  charming  adroitness  he  magnified  popular 
sovereignty  and  pushed  his  pet  principle  of  the 
necessary  vigor  of  state  authorities  under  the  Con 
stitution.  He  was  still  somewhat  fearful  of  slum 
bering  conspiracies,  and  is  said  to  have  suggested 
to  Governor  Tiffin  the  advisability  of  removing  all 
postmasters  west  of  the  mountains  who  might  be 


EARLY  LIFE  51 

fairly  suspected  of  "being  unfriendly  to  the  unity 
of  the  nation."  Practical  civil  administration 
would  always  teach  that  postmasters  are  ex  officio 
dangerous  conspirators. 

President  Jefferson  did  not  forget  the  young 
advocate  who  had  so  effectively  supported  his  gov 
ernment,  and  in  1807  Cass  was  tendered  a  commis 
sion  as  United  States  marshal.  He  hesitated  to 
receive  it,  fearing  that  it  would  interfere  with  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  But  he  recognized  that 
the  appointment,  coming  as  it  did,  was  a  distinc 
tion  and  an  announcement  of  the  President's  con 
fidence  and  gratitude.  So  he  accepted  and  re 
tained  the  office  until  after  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  of  1812. 

In  1806  Cass  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Spencer,  a  descendant  of  General  Spencer  of  Rev 
olutionary  reputation.  The  history  of  his  domestic 
life  is  the  simple  one  of  uneventful  happiness. 
So  even  and  uniform  was  his  private  life,  so 
blessed  with  a  paucity  of  annals,  that  nothing 
more  than  this  direct  assertion  is  needed  to  em 
brace  the  whole  truth.  About  the  time  of  his 
marriage  he  built  on  his  father's  farm  what  was 
then  considered  a  handsome  "double"  house.  It 
was  of  logs,  as  all  the  mansions  were  in  those 
days,  and  part  of  it  is  still  standing.  Here  his 
elder  children  were  born,  and  this  was  his  home 
for  nearly  ten  years. 

The  legal  profession  in  Ohio  in  early  days  was 
not  a  remunerative  one,  and  yet  in  the  first  few 


52  LEWIS  CASS 

years  of  practice,  Cass  had  achieved  reputation 
and  accumulated  a  little  property.  He  was  known 
as  one  of  the  foremost  men  at  the  bar.  His  natu 
ral  capacity  for  grasping  legal  distinctions  and  for 
mastering  details  was  aided  by  continuous  industry 
and  by  a  vigor  and  dignity  of  speech  which  were 
always  impressive,  often  eloquent,  and  seldom 
failed  to  influence.  One  of  his  very  last  acts  as 
a  practicing  lawyer  was  the  defense  of  two  judges 
of  the  State  of  Ohio,  who,  in  the  plenitude  of  their 
judicial  authority,  had  ventured  to  declare  an  act 
of  the  legislature  unconstitutional,  and  were  im 
peached  for  their  presumption.  This  is  an  amus 
ing  instance  of  how  completely  Ohio,  framed  on 
the  shores  and  ways  of  Federalism,  once  fairly 
launched,  had  swung  into  the  current  of  ultra- 
democracy.  The  trial  of  the  judges  was  sensa 
tional.  The  State  was  filled  with  excitement. 
The  speech  of  Cass  on  this  occasion  was  masterly 
and  convincing,  —  an  epoch  in  the  judicial  and 
constitutional  history  of  Ohio,  possibly  an  epoch 
in  the  judicial  history  of  our  country.  The  ac 
quittal  of  the  judges  was  a  victory  for  the  young 
lawyer ;  but  it  meant  also  a  victory  for  the  dignity 
of  a  collateral  branch  of  the  state  government.  It 
had  its  influence  in  counteracting  a  dangerous 
tendency  in  the  political  thought  of  the  period. 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  WAR  OF   1812 

IN  many  ways  the  history  of  our  country  in  the 
first  forty  years  of  its  existence  as  an  independent 
nation  does  not  furnish  a  story  to  be  read  with 
unmingled  delight.  The  fierce  opposition  to  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  perpetuated  itself  in 
party  opposition  and  obstruction  after  1789.  And 
scarcely  had  the  infant  state  been  given  vigorous 
development  by  the  tender  care  of  the  party  which 
had  stood  sponsor  at  its  birth,  when  it  was  turned 
over  to  those  who  had  been  its  opponents  and 
might  still  prove  untrustworthy  managers  of  its 
affairs.  Political  feeling  ran  high  in  1801,  when 
the  Federalists  in  their  horror  of  Jefferson  plotted 
seriously  to  bestow  the  chief  magistracy  on  Burr. 
With  a  sense  of  strange  familiarity  one  comes  into 
that  atmosphere  of  sectional  strife.  It  is  discour 
aging  to  see  how  long  there  has  been  "solidity" 
north  and  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  The 
British  cruiser  boarded  New  England  vessels  and 
impressed  New  England  seamen.  Napoleon 
pounced  upon  our  defenseless  commerce,  and  skill 
fully  avoided  all  consideration  of  redress.  Nor 
was  it  because  a  Boston  merchant  thought  more 


54  LEWIS  CASS 

of  his  cargo  than  he  did  of  his  countrymen,  doomed 
to  fight  as  Englishmen  whether  they  would  or  not, 
that  he  bore  English  cruelty  with  patience,  and 
fumed  only  at  the  arrogance  of  France.  It  was 
largely  because  the  southern  party,  the  party  of 
Jefferson,  which  the  New  Englander  detested, 
could  see  no  wrong  in  French  aggressions  that  the 
New  England  Federalist  saw  very  clearly  the  re 
verse.  Nor  is  the  exasperating  timidity  of  Jeffer 
son  to  be  overlooked.  In  pursuance  of  the  "terra 
pin  policy  "  of  his  administration  the  country  had 
drawn  itself  within  its  shell,  in  the  hope  of  being 
coaxed  out  by  sweet  concessions.  But  the  em 
bargo,  which  was  said  at  one  time  to  be  a  measure 
for  the  protection  of  commerce,  and  at  another  to 
be  retaliatory,  proved  destructive  of  no  interests 
save  our  own.  Instead  of  building  frigates  and 
sloops  of  war  that  might  protect  New  England 
shipping,  Congress  spent  money  in  constructing 
the  ridiculous  gunboats  which  in  the  end  proved 
of  little  or  no  value.  Yet  the  Eastern  States  were 
developing  a  commerce  of  no  mean  proportions, 
flourishing  in  stealthy  trade  in  spite  of  the  damage 
inflicted  by  the  combatants  of  Europe.  But  their 
commerce  never  entirely  recovered  from  the  disas 
trous  effects  of  non -intercourse  and  the  embargo. 
By  a  singular  irony  of  fate,  Madison,  on  whose 
shoulders  had  fallen  the  peaceful  robe  of  Jefferson, 
was  driven  into  a  war  of  conquest  and  aggression, 
a  war  for  which  a  timorous  policy  had  ill  prepared 
the  country.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  .the 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  55 

war  of  1812  was  a  sectional  and  party  contest,  and 
that,  by  merely  bringing  it  to  a  close,  the  adminis 
tration  won  unprecedented  popularity. 

Our  attention  in  this  volume  is  confined  to  the 
progress  of  events  in  the  West,  where  from  the 
first  hostilities  were  fathered  with  a  warm  affec 
tion.  Madison  and  his  fellows  of  the  agricultural 
party  had  been  set  in  motion  by  an  infusion  of 
young  blood  from  the  South,  and  especially  the 
Southwest,  which  played  strange  pranks  in  the 
veins  of  the  old  Democracy.  Vigorous'  and  active 
was  this  young  Democracy.  It  made  itself  felt 
in  Congress  in  the  persons  of  Clay  and  Grundy. 
It  was  strong  in  Ohio  and  in  the  Territories,  which 
had  not  yet  put  on  the  toga  virilis  of  statehood. 
For  the  occupation  of  new  territory  is  an  employ 
ment  analogous  to  conquest.  Only  in  the  more 
settled  portion  of  Ohio  had  the  rifle  as  yet  been 
relegated  to  an  ornamental  position  in  the  chimney 
corner;  the  farmer  in  the  other  portions  of  the 
Northwest  still  considered  it  an  implement  of  hus 
bandry.  Moreover,  the  remembrance  of  British 
intrigues,  hostile  to  the  safety  of  the  settler,  was 
still  fresh  in  his  mind,  and  his  hatred  of  England 
had  not  entirely  passed  away.  He  readily  attrib 
uted  the  present  uneasiness  of  the  Indians  to  her 
artful  and  cunning  interference. 

The  plantation  owner  of  the  South  might  possi 
bly  clamor  for  a  war  which  would  in  all  likelihood 
damage  chiefly  the  commerce  of  his  political  oppo 
nent.  But  the  pioneer  of  the  West  had  not  the 


66  LEWIS  CASS 

spirit  of  sectional  prejudice,  nor  was  lie  hypocriti 
cal  in  his  zeal  for  war;  he  knew  full  well  that,  if 
hostilities  began,  the  Indian  war-whoop  would  be 
his  reveille.  There  was  a  strong  national  pride  in 
this  portion  of  our  country,  which  had  been  held 
as  a  national  domain  while  the  other  States  were 
wrangling  as  selfish  members  of  an  impotent  con 
federation.  The  pride  of  the  Northwestern  settler 
was  not  narrowed  by  petty  traditions  of  a  neigh 
borhood.  He  at  the  very  least  divided  his  affec 
tions  between  his  old  Eastern  home  and  his  new 
Western  one.  He  might  believe  theoretically  in 
the  sovereignty  of  his  new  State,  but  he  felt  that 
he  had  brought  over  the  mountains  a  portion  of 
the  holy  fire  which  was  still  burning  on  the  altar 
of  the  mother  Republic.  State  sovereignty  or 
spiteful  sectionalism  could  not  grow  in  rank  luxu 
riance  in  the  Northwest,  as  the  one  did  under  the 
fierce  heat  of  slavery,  and  the  other  in  the  equally 
torrid  zone  of  trade  and  tariff. 

The  suspicions  of  the  Western  settler  were  not 
unfounded;  for  British  interference  in  the  affairs 
of  this  country  was  not  confined  to  impressment 
of  seamen  and  the  seizure  of  our  merchantmen, 
nor  was  all  hope  of  the  disintegration  of  the  Union 
relinquished  when  the  frontier  posts  were  at  last 
delivered  in  1796.  For  many  years  after  that, 
there  was  an  astute  surveillance  of  Western  affairs, 
and  an  attentive  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the 
English  government  for  the  Indian  hunter,  who 
was  losing  his  hunting  ground  at  the  advance  of 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  57 

the  American  farmer.  As  the  war  cloud  in  Eu 
rope  became  darker,  and  the  relations  with  Amer 
ica  became  more  strained,  there  was  renewed  in 
terest  on  the  part  of  England  in  the  welfare  of 
the  poor  red  man.  Efforts  to  attach  the  Indian 
to  the  British  interests  were  evident.  There  was 
a  feeling  of  uneasiness  in  Detroit  as  early  as  1806. 
In  1807  direct  solicitations  for  the  Indian  alliance 
were  begun  by  the  English.1  In  1810  and  1811 
presents  were  handed  out  at  Maiden  to  the  visiting 
Indians  with  excessive  generosity.  The  value  0f 
goods  dealt  out  in  the  latter  year  exceeded  that  of 
common  years  by  twenty  thousand  pounds  sterling. 
"All  their  peltries,"  said  Governor  Harrison, 
"collected  on  the  Wabash  in  one  year,  if  sold  in 
the  London  markets,  would  not  pay  the  freight  of 
the  goods  which  have  been  given  to  the  Indians. "2 
The  efforts  of  Tecumseh  and  the  prophet  to  form 
a  complete  confederation  of  the  tribes  of  the  West 
may  be  attributed  to  lofty  Indian  patriotism  on 
the  part  of  this  red  Alexander  the  Great  and  the 
medicine  man,  his  brother.  But  there  is  little 
reason  to  doubt  that  much  of  their  energy  was 
due  to  British  instigation,3  and  that  the  battle  of 

1  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  vol.  i.  p.  746. 

2  Farmer's  History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,  p.  273 ;  American 
State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  vol.  ii.  pp.  798-802. 

8  A  Chapter  of  the  War  of  1812,  by  William  Stanley  Hatch,  p. 
102 ;  North  American  Review,  vol.  xxiv.  p.  381 ;  Outlines  of  Po 
litical  History  of  Michigan,  Campbell,  p.  257  ;  Eggleston's  Tecum 
seh,  pp.  91,  92,  126,  127,  etc,  ;  Drake's  Life  of  Black  Hawk,  pp. 
62,  63. 


58  LEWIS  CASS 

Tippecanoe,  in  1811,  where  Governor  Harrison 
met  and  defeated  those  who  had  been  enticed  into 
the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  prophet,  was  the  real 
beginning  of  the  war  of  1812  in  the  West.1 

Claims  have  been  made  that  it  was  because  of 
American  greed  and  cruelty  that  the  English  were 
successful  where  the  Americans  desired  to  be ;  but 
such  assertions  are  without  basis  in  the  facts. 
During  the  Revolution  the  English  government 
put  a  bounty  on  an  American  scalp  as  it  might  on 
the  hide  of  a  wolf;  and  as  the  war  of  1812  came 
on,  the  United  States  government  endeavored  to 
persuade  the  Indians  not  to  yield  to  the  solicita 
tion  of  British  agents,  but  did  not  endeavor  until 
late  in  the  war  to  procure  assistance 2  even  from 
those  tribes  which  could  not  be  brought  into  the 
British  alliance. 

The  remembrance  of  these  facts  has  faded  from 
the  memory  of  those  who  goad  themselves  to  a 
pitch  of  patriotism  by  recalling  the  arrogance  of 
Britain  on  the  sea.  But  these  are  facts,  and  there 
is  no  desire  to  heighten  animosity  by  a  recoloring 
of  what  may  very  well  fade  into  indistinctness. 
The  judgment  of  history,  however,  needs  to  be 

1  The  situation  in  the  West  seems  to  have  been  much  the  same 
as  it  was  twenty  years  before.     The  Indians  were  furnished  with 
ammunition  and  supplies  and  were  held  as  firm  allies,  but  there 
was  no  attempt  to  incite  them  to  hostilities  before  the  war  with 
America  was  begun.    See  Report  of  Canadian  Archivist,  1893,  p. 
47,  etc. 

2  Governor  Hull's  address  to  Indians,  1809,  Michigan  Pioneer 
Coll.,  p.  597. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  59 

just.  So  long  as  such  a  book  as  James's  "Mili 
tary  Occurrences"  is  seriously  read  and  referred 
to  in  England  as  history,  a  plain  statement  of 
truth  cannot  be  amiss.  The  Indians  themselves 
on  more  than  one  occasion  said  that  "their  Great 
Father,  the  President,  did  not  ask  them  to  involve 
themselves  in  the  quarrels  of  the  white  people,  but 
to  remain  quiet  spectators."1 

All  this  may  seem  to  have  little  to  do  with  the 
young  lawyer,  whom  we  left  practicing  his  profes 
sion  with  diligence,  and  performing  his  official 
duties  as  United  States  marshal.  But  it  has  much 
to  do  with  him;  it  is  a  part  of  his  life.  His  whole 
career  was  changed  by  the  outbreak  of  the  war; 
a  great  portion  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  counter 
acting  the  effect  of  British  influence  over  the  In 
dians;  and  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  Eng 
land's  ambition  and  diplomatic  stealth  made  him 
through  his  whole  life  suspicious  of  her. 

Cass  himself  said' in  1827  that  the  hope  of  pos 
sessing  Canada  had  no  more  influence  upon  the 
declaration  of  war  than  the  possession  of  Paris  in 
1814  by  the  allies  had  upon  the  origin  of  the  Na 
poleonic  war.  It  is  true  that  the  United  States 
would  not  have  begun  the  war  simply  for  purposes 
of  conquest ;  she  was  driven  into  it  by  a  succession 
of  annoyances  which  had  grown  absolutely  un 
bearable.  But  Cass,  when  he  made  this  state 
ment,  must  have  forgotten  the  enthusiasm  of  his 
earlier  days.  Clay's  proud  boast  that  with  a  few 

1  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  vol.  i.,  passim. 


60  LEWIS  CASS 

Kentuckians  he  could  conquer  poor,  oppressed 
Canada,  found  an  echo  in  all  the  country  west  of 
the  Alleghanies.  There  was  an  intense  desire  to 
invade  the  neighboring  province,  and  ask  England 
how  she  liked  to  wear  the  boot  on  the  other  foot. 
A  firm  belief  in  the  blessings  of  American  liberty 
persuaded  the  Western  citizen  that  the  Canadian 
was  waiting  with  impatience  the  opportunity  to 
make  such  blessings  his  own.  In  no  one  had  this 
adulation  of  Americanism  developed  more  strongly 
than  in  Cass,  and  it  was  coupled  with  a  fierce 
energy  which  seemed  an  augury  of  success. 

On  February  6,  1812,  Congress  authorized  the 
President  to  accept  and  organize  certain  volunteer 
military  corps ;  and  on  April  10  he  was  authorized 
to  require  the  executives  of  the  several  States  and 
Territories  to  take  effectual  measures  to  organize 
and  equip  their  respective  portions  of  100,000 
militia.  Ohio  was  called  upon  for  her  quota  of 
men,  and  in  May  twelve  hundred  volunteers  were 
called  together  at  Dayton.  They  were  divided 
into  three  regiments.  Colonel  Me  Arthur  had  com 
mand  of  the  first,  Colonel  Findlay  of  the  second, 
and  Lewis  Cass  was  colonel  of  the  third. 

Cass  here  made  his  first  address  to  his  troops: 
"Fellow-citizens, — The  standard  of  our  country 
is  displayed.  You  have  rallied  around  it  to  de 
fend  her  rights  and  to  avenge  her  injuries.  May 
it  wave  protection  to  our  friends  and  defiance  to 
our  enemies !  And  should  we  ever  meet  them  in 
the  hostile  field,  I  doubt  not  but  that  the  eagle  of 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  61 

America  will  be  found  more  than  a  match  for  the 
British  lion !  "  These  exclamatory  antitheses  were 
said  to  have  been  received  with  "rapturous  enthu 
siasm." 

In  May  Governor  Hull,  who  at  that  time  held 
the  governorship  of  Michigan  Territory,  was  ap 
pointed  brigadier-general.  He  had  at  first  refused 
appointment  partly  because  he  differed  from  the 
administration  as  to  the  advisability  of  a  land  ap 
proach  to  Canada,  without  support  on  the  lakes, 
and  partly  also,  doubtless,  because  he  desired  to 
shun  responsibility,  and  dreaded  to  go  back  to 
Detroit  as  an  active  commander,  where  he  had 
miserably  failed  as  a  civil  governor,  because  of 
his  pompous  vacillation  and  ponderous  indecision. 
However,  he  finally  accepted,  took  command  of 
the  troops  at  Dayton,  and  marched  to  Urbana, 
where  he  was  joined  by  the  fourth  regiment  of 
regular  infantry,  about  three  hundred  strong,  un 
der  the  command  of  Colonel  Miller.  This  regi 
ment  had  seen  service  under  General  Harrison  in 
the  Tippecanoe  expedition,  and  was  made  up  of 
tried  men.  The  march  to  Detroit  was  a  burden 
some  one.  Part  of  the  way  had  to  be  cut  through 
the  persistent  underbrush,  and  from  the  Maumee 
northward  the  road  in  its  normal  condition  was 
primeval  mud  and  water.  On  June  26,  when  he 
was  not  far  from  the  Maumee,  General  Hull  re 
ceived  word  from  Washington,  written  early  on 
the  18th,  the  very  day  on  which  war  was  declared, 
urging  him  to  proceed  to  Detroit  with  all  possible 


62  LEWIS  CASS 

speed.  The  same  day  Colonel  Me  Arthur  received 
a  letter  from  Chillicothe  stating  that  before  the 
letter  reached  him  war  would  be  begun.  But  the 
actual  announcement  that  war  had  begun  was  not 
received  until  July  2. 

There  is  no  need  of  covering  up  the  multitude 
of  sins  of  the  Madison  administration  with  any 
cloak  of  charitable  inferences.  It  is  simply  inex 
cusable  that  the  British  at  Maiden  should  have 
received  word  two  days  earlier  than  Hull  did,  and 
that  every  effort  was  not  made  to  give  full  infor 
mation  to  our  army,  which  was  marching  practi 
cally  into  the  very  face  of  the  enemy.  In  fact  the 
message  did  not  reach  Cleveland  until  the  28th, 
ten  days  after  the  declaration.  The  administra 
tion  was  creeping  like  a  snail  complainingly  to 
war.  But  that  does  not  entirely  excuse  Hull  for 
trusting  his  baggage  and  papers  to  a  vessel  which, 
sailing  on  the  1st  from  the  Maumee,  was  captured 
by  the  English  off  Maiden.  He  seems  to  have 
taken  very  literally  the  trenchant  irony  of  Kan- 
dolph,  who  portrayed  a  "holiday  campaign"  in 
which  Canada  was  to  "conquer  herself"  and  "be 
subdued  by  the  principle  of  fraternity." 

It  will  be  necessary  in  delineating  this  portion 
of  Cass's  life  to  enter  somewhat  fully  into  this 
inglorious  campaign.  For  the  wisdom  of  Hull's 
action  is  still  a  subject  of  discussion,  and  his  de 
scendants,  with  an  amiable  regard  for  his  memory, 
have  endeavored  to  defend  his  actions  as  wise, 
humane,  and  based  on  good  military  principles; 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  63 

while  Cass,  who  was  the  chief  witness  afterwards 
against  the  general,  has  been  accused  of  unworthy 
motives,  as  being  the  tool  of  an  impotent  adminis 
tration,  and  a  vile  intriguer  for  favor. 

On  July  5  the  army  reached  Detroit.  The  men 
were  quite  ready  to  rest.  Cass  himself  recalled 
in  after  years  his  feeling  of  gratification  that  the 
long  journey  was  over.  The  "raw  militia"  of 
whom  Hull  complained  had  marched  over  two 
hundred  miles  through  forest  and  swamps,  build 
ing  bridges  over  smaller  streams,  and  enduring 
hardship  and  fatigue.  They  found  Detroit  a 
French-American  village  of  quaint  aspect,  a  piece 
of  old  France  partly  inoculated  with  Americanism. 
An  entirely  new  stockade  had  been  erected  by 
Governor  Hull  in  1807,  and  everything  had  a 
well-kept  appearance.  Cass  afterwards  stated  that 
he  thought  some  of  the  embrasures  defective  and 
the  platform  in  need  of  repair.  This  may  have 
been  true,  yet  Hull  is  probably  not  justly  charge 
able  with  negligence  for  not  putting  the  fort  into 
better  condition. 

There  were  in  the  whole  of  Michigan  at  that 
time  about  five  thousand  persons,  and  in  Detroit 
proper  not  far  from  a  thousand.  The  Americans 
in  the  Territory  had  used  every  means  to  acquaint 
the  government  with  their  dangers.  They  were 
a  "double  frontier,"  they  said,  for  no  farm  was 
protected  by  another.  With  a  trust  that  the  gov 
ernment  would  help  those  who  helped  themselves, 
they  had  raised  four  companies  of  militia,  which 


64  LEWIS  CASS 

were  at  this  time  commanded  by  Judge  Witherell, 
an  experienced  Revolutionary  officer.  They  were 
men  accustomed  to  the  privations  of  frontier  life, 
and  had  been  in  continual  readiness  for  war  since 
1805.  Hildreth's  estimate 1  that  the  militia  of  the 
Territory  raised  Hull's  force  to  1800  is  a  very  low 
one.  Nor  will  it  do  to  pass  over  men  of  this  kind 
with  a  slur  at  "militia."  The  militia  of  Michigan 
were  no  weaklings,  and  the  Ohio  troops  were  of 
the  material  which  by  many  a  hard  fight  has  given 
the  American  volunteer  system  a  glory  above  a 
sneer.  That  Hildreth's  estimate,  evidently  based 
on  Hull's  own  statement,2  is  too  low  is  quite  appa 
rent  from  the  fact  that  Judge  Witherell  stated 
that  he  received  a  letter  from  Hull,  dated  June 
14,  announcing  that  he  would  soon  be  at  the  River 
Raisin  with  about  2200  men;  and  that  the  general 
also  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  war  that  he  was 
confident  that  his  force  would  be  superior  to  any 
which  would  be  opposed  to  it,  inasmuch  as  the 
"rank  and  file  "  exceeded  2000.  The  roll  of  troops 
at  Fort  Findlay  showed  2075  men.  Hull's  de 
fenders  3  do  not  deny  that  this  number  is  substan 
tially  correct,  but  he  asserted  that  there  were  392 
men  more  than  the  President  had  ordered,  and 
that  he  had  no  authority  to  take  any  surplus  under 
his  command.  There  were  something  like  four 
hundred  men 4  in  the  Michigan  militia,  and  there 

1  Hildreth,  Hist,  of  U.  S.,  vol.  yi.  p.  338. 

2  Hull's  Defense  (Appendix  to  Trial),  p.  42. 
8  History  of  the  Campaign  of  1812. 

4  Hull's  Memoirs,  p.  125  ;  Hull's  Trial,  p.  94. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  65 

can  be  no  doubt  that  Hull's  effective  army,  after 
liberal  deductions  because  of  garrison  duty,  ill 
ness,  and  other  causes,  reached  over  two  thousand 
on  July  6. 

Now  was  the  time  for  action.  The  enemy  at 
Maiden  had  an  advantageous  position;  for  they 
were  south  of  Detroit,  and  could  easily  cross  the 
river  and  intercept  supplies.  Hull  afterwards  said 
that,  had  he  not  been  ordered  to  Detroit,  he  would 
have  begun  an  attack  upon  the  British  from  an 
other  quarter.  This  is  all  ex  post  facto  imagina 
tion.  He  knew  when  he  left  Dayton  that  he  was 
bound  for  Detroit.  And  now  when  he  was  at  De 
troit  he  refused  to  enter  Canada  until  he  received 
authority  from  Washington.  He  preferred  to 
leave  the  enemy  their  advantage  rather  than  take 
active  measures  of  hostility.1 

The  morning  after  the  arrival  of  the  army  at 
Detroit,  Colonel  Cass  was  sent  to  Maiden  with  a 
flag  of  truce  to  obtain,  if  possible,  the  baggage 
and  prisoners  taken  from  the  schooner  which  Hull 
had  trustfully  sent  to  Detroit  from  the  Maumee. 
He  was  led  blindfolded  into  the  presence  of  the 
commanding  officer,  and  his  demands  were  re 
fused  ;  but  before  he  reached  the  fort  he  was  able 
to  make  a  casual  survey,  which  induced  him  to 
believe  that  it  was  indefensible,  and  he  so  declared 
to  General  Hull.  An  examination  of  it  a  year 

1  It  must  be  said  that  Hull  realized  and  stated  at  the  beginning 
the  desirability  of  controlling  the  lake  if  anything  effective  was 
to  be  done  in  Upper  Canada. 


66  LEWIS  CASS 

later  convinced  him  that  his  first  assumption  was 
well  founded,  and,  inasmuch  as  Hull  in  previous 
years  had  been  at  Maiden  several  times,  there  was 
no  reason  why  he  also  should  not  have  appreciated 
its  weakness.  On  the  9th  orders  were  received 
from  Washington  authorizing  the  army  to  cross 
into  Canada  and  begin  offensive  operations.  A 
council  of  war  was  called,  and  Cass  argued  eagerly 
for  immediate  action.  Deserters  from  Canada  ac 
quainted  the  Americans  with  the  numbers  of  the 
British  forces,  and  gave  clear  indication  of  the 
feeling  prevailing  among  the  inhabitants  of  upper 
Canada.  Offensive  operations  were  determined 
upon  in  the  council,  and  the  young  officers  were 
jubilant.  But  Hull  was  not  hopeful.  He  advised 
the  secretary  of  war  not  to  be  "too  sanguine," 
as  the  "water  and  the  savages"  were  commanded 
by  the  enemy.  He  did  not  care  to  burn  all  argu 
mentative  bridges  behind  him,  even  when  he  must 
have  known  that  his  force  greatly  outnumbered 
the  enemy;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  after 
years,  in  his  peaceful,  bucolic  existence,  he  found 
true  satisfaction  in  the  remembrance  of  his  lugu 
brious  reports.  In  the  latest  review  of  this  cam 
paign,  written  with  rare  judgment  and  impartial 
ity,  the  statement  is  made  that  Hull  from  the  first 
"looked  on  the  conquest  of  Canada  as  a  result  of 
his  appearance."1  The  extract  just  made  from 
his  letter  to  the  secretary  of  war,  his  hesitation  in 

1  History  of  the  United  States  of  America  during  the  First  Ad* 
ministration  of  James  Madison,  by  Henry  Adams,  vol.  ii.  p.  302. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  67 

accepting  the  commission  in  the  first  place,  his 
timid  policy  and  delay,  are  hardly  reconcilable,  it 
seems  to  me,  with  this  lenient  interpretation  of  his 
conduct. 

Cass,  we  are  told,  took  his  stand  in  the  bow  of 
the  first  boat  in  which  the  troops  were  conveyed 
across  the  river,  and  was  the  first  American  to  set 
his  foot  on  Canadian  soil  after  the  declaration  of 
war.  This  well  suggests  the  ardor  of  the  young 
colonel,  whose  zeal  for  war  left  no  room  for  inde 
cision  and  hesitation.  He  had  used  every  means 
of  obtaining  information,  and  was  satisfied  that 
a  prompt  and  bold  attack  would  insure  the  fall  of 
Maiden  and  the  conquest  of  Upper  Canada.  The 
troops  reached  the  Canadian  shore  just  above  the 
present  town  of  Windsor,  and  the  young  Ohio 
colonel,  who  was  always  in  the  lead,  hastened  to 
raise  the  stars  and  stripes  over  the  sleepy  French 
settlement  of  Sandwich.  A  detachment  of  the 
enemy  had  abandoned  their  position  opposite  De 
troit,  and  had  hastened  beyond  the  Canard  River, 
nearer  to  the  fort,  which  was  twenty  miles  to  the 
south  of  Hull's  position. 

Two  hundred  copies  of  a  proclamation,  in  which 
the  fraternity  theory  was  given  full  vent,  were  at 
once  distributed.  Subsequent  events  clothed  it 
in  a  humorous  garb,  but  it  was  declared  able  and 
vigorous  by  the  press  of  the  day,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of  its  influence.  No  less  an  authority 
than  Judge  Campbell,  in  his  "Outlines  of  the  Po 
litical  History  of  Michigan,"  attributes  this  docu- 


68  LEWIS  CASS 

ment  to  Cass ; 1  others  whose  means  of  information 
were  good,  and  who  were  his  personal  friends,  have 
made  the  same  assertion.  It  certainly  bears  marks 
of  the  pomposity  and  incisiveness  of  Cass's  earlier 
style.  The  American  army  was  said  to  have  come 
to  rescue  the  perishing  Canadians  from  the  dragon 
of  tyranny,  to  pour  the  balm  of  liberty  and  fra 
ternal  love  into  their  wounds.  They  were  called 
upon  not  to  raise  their  hands  against  their  "breth 
ren."  No  assistance  was  required,  for  a  force 
was  at  hand  which  would  "look  down  all  opposi 
tion,"  and  was  a  mere  "vanguard"  of  the  host 
which  was  to  follow.  Rare  sport  had  the  cunning 
pamphleteers  afterwards  with  this  confident  an 
nouncement  of  success.  The  "Wars  of  the  Gulls  " 
represents  Madison,  the  "Great  Mogul,"  solilo 
quizing  as  follows:  "By  proclamation  my  illus 
trious  predecessor  defended  this  extensive  region 
during  a  long  and  warlike  reign  of  eight  years, 
and  brought  the  belligerent  powers  of  Europe  to 
his  feet.  By  proclamation  I  have  commenced  this 
great  and  perilous  war,  and  by  proclamation  I 
will  carry  victory  into  the  very  chimney  corner  of 
the  enemy." 

The  inhabitants  of  Canada  were  warned,  in  this 
circular,  that  they  need  expect  no  quarter  if  found 
fighting  by  the  side  of  an  Indian,  and  that  "the 
first  stroke  of  the  tomahawk,  the  first  attempt  of 
the  scalping-knif e "  would  be  the  signal  "for  an 
indiscriminate  scene  of  desolation."  This  clause 

1  See  also  Smith's  Life  and  Times  of  Cass,  p.  38. 


THE   WAR  OF  1812  69 

was  the  occasion  of  some  contention  between  the 
commissioners  at  Ghent,  where  the  American  re 
presentatives  attempted  to  disown  the  whole  pro 
ceeding,  asserting  that  it  was  unauthorized  by 
their  government.  But  such  was  not  the  fact. 
"Your  letters,  .  .  .  together  with  your  proclama 
tion,  have  been  received,"  wrote  Secretary  Eustis 
on  August  1,  1812.  "Your  operations  are  ap 
proved  by  the  government."  The  English  com 
missioners  shuddered  in  well  counterfeited  horror 
at  the  idea  that  an  invading  army  should  encourage 
treason  and  rebellion  among  the  inhabitants  of  a 
neighboring  province.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that 
such  was  the  principle  of  the  "fraternal"  conquest 
of  Canada;  and  it  is  equally  true  that  England 
on  her  own  part  attempted  to  stimulate  into  open 
enmity  the  New  England  Federalists,  who  grum 
bled  without  ceasing  at  the  party  war  which  bade 
fair  to  leave  nothing  more  substantial  than  a  re 
membrance  of  their  commerce,  which  the  embargo 
had  already  "protected"  into  debility. 

The  effect  of  this  proclamation  was  immediate. 
Vaporous  as  it  seems  in  the  light  of  subsequent 
events,  it  was  admirably  adapted  to  win  the  disaf 
fected,  and  to  encourage  the  French  habitants, 
who  naturally  sympathized  with  the  Americans. 
The  commander  at  Maiden  wrote  despondently  to 
General  Brock,  who  was  governor  in  Upper  Can 
ada,  and  who,  released  from  his  civil  duties,  soon 
became  the  inspiring  genius  and  hero  of  the  war. 
"  Hull's  invidious  proclamation,"  wrote  Brock 


70  LEWIS  CASS 

to  Governor  Prevost,  "herewith  inclosed,  has  al 
ready  been  productive  of  considerable  effect  on  the 
minds  of  the  people.  In  fact,  a  general  sentiment 
prevails  that,  with  the  present  force,  resistance  is 
unavailing." 1  So  widespread  was  the  despondency 
that  some  of  the  militia  in  Upper  Canada  peremp 
torily  refused  to  march,  as  many  as  five  hundred 
settlers  in  the  western  district  sought  the  protec 
tion  of  the  enemy,2  and  the  Indians  on  the  Grand 
Kiver  refused  to  take  up  arms.  Even  Hull  was 
encouraged  to  hope  for  success,  and  continued  to 
"look  down"  all  opposition  with  a  masterly  inac 
tivity  which  never  deviated  into  generalship. 

The  Ohio  colonels  were  eager  for  action.  Cass 
urged  that  the  army  move  immediately  upon  Mai 
den,  to  take  a  position  at  least  as  near  as  the 
Canard  Eiver,  which  was  some  five  miles  distant 
from  the  British  fort.  One  cannot  say  with  assu 
rance  that  Hull  should  have  made  an  attack  at 
once.  And  yet  if  he  could  not  take  the  place  his 
situation  was  full  of  danger  from  the  very  begin 
ning.  Even  the  safety  of  Detroit  depended  on 
the  ability  of  the  American  army  either  to  capture 
the  British  position  or  to  hold  the  enemy  com 
pletely  in  check,  inasmuch  as  the  line  of  commu 
nication  with  the  south  could  be  easily  broken  in 
upon.  Whatever  was  to  be  done  must  be  done 
quickly  and  with  energy.  But  these  were  just  the 

1  Brock  to  Prevost,  July  20,  1812.    Tupper's  Life  and  Corre 
spondence  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  p.  203. 

2  Ibid.  p.  204. 


THE   WAR  OF  1812  71 

qualities  that  Hull  lacked;  and  if  his  subordinates 
were  wrong  in  asking  for  prompt  action,  he  was 
unable  to  impress  himself  upon  them  or  to  bring 
them  to  respect  his  more  experienced  judgment. 

No  forward  step  was  now  taken.  The  Ameri 
can  army  remained  quietly  at  Sandwich,  some 
twenty  miles  from  the  enemy,  and  awaited  devel 
opments.  Colonel  Miller,  with  a  few  troops,  made 
an  expedition  into  the  country,  and,  returning 
with  provisions,  demonstrated  the  weakness  of  the 
enemy.  Cass,  because  of  his  much  asking,  was 
allowed  to  take  two  hundred  and  eighty  men  and 
push  his  way  as  near  as  possible  to  the  enemy's 
stronghold  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  its  con 
dition.  He  wanted  nothing  better.  The  river  Ta- 
rontee,  as  the  Indians  called  it,  which  has  gen 
erally  figured  in  history  under  its  French  name  of 
the  Canard,  is  a  stream  of  considerable  depth, 
flowing  through  low,  marshy  ground  into  the  De 
troit.  Here  a  detachment  of  the  enemy  was  posted, 
and  here  was  fought  the  first  battle  of  the  war. 
Cass,  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  enemy,  left  a 
company  of  riflemen  near  the  bridge  which  crossed 
the  stream  not  far  from  its  mouth.  He  proceeded 
with  the  rest  of  his  troops  five  miles  up  the  stream 
to  a  ford,  and  came  down  the  left  bank.  An  im 
petuous  charge  upon  the  hostile  line  threw  it  into 
confusion.  Three  times  the  British  formed,  and 
were  as  often  beaten  back.  But  night  was  falling. 
Cass  recalled  his  men  to  the  bridge,  and  sent  word 
of  his  success  to  General  Hull. 


72  LEWIS  CASS 

This  first  victory  of  the  war  was  accepted  through 
the  country  as  prophetic  of  success,  and  Cass  was 
hailed  as  the  "Hero  of  the  Tarontee."1  "Hold 
the  bridge,  and  begin  operations  at  once,"  was  the 
eager  advice  of  the  young  officers.  But  Hull 
thought  the  position  too  exposed,  finally  saying 
that  Miller  arid  Cass  might  use  their  own  judg 
ment;  they  withdrew,  for  they  insisted  that  the 
commanding  officer  ought  to  have  the  responsi 
bility.  A  withdrawal  meant  a  proclamation  to  all 
Canada  that  the  American  general  considered  him 
self  as  yet  too  weak  to  take  a  stand  nearer  than 
twenty  miles  from  the  enemy,  who  were  then,  un 
doubtedly,  greatly  outnumbered.  The  young  offi 
cers  now  openly  murmured.  They  had  hardly 
expected  that  sluggishness  would  degenerate  into 
absolute  immovability.  There  is  little  reason  to 
doubt  that  from  this  time  the  feeling  of  distrust 
of  their  general  steadily  increased,  until  McArthur, 
Findlay,  and  Cass  actually  plotted  his  deposition 
and  the  installation  of  McArthur  as  the  command 
ing  officer.  Cass  constantly  urged  movement  and 
action,  except  on  one  occasion,  when  he  deferred 
to  the  superior  technical  wisdom  of  the  artillery 
commanders.  In  various  skirmishes  he  showed 
his  ardor  for  the  conflict. 

General  Hull  had  charge  of  more  than  the  mili 
tary  operations  in  Upper  Canada;  he  was,  as  well, 
governor  of  Michigan  Territory;  yet  for  some 
reason,  he  took  no  step  to  announce  the  outbreak 

1  Lossing's  Field-Book  of  the  War  0/1812,  p.  265. 


THE   WAR  OF  1812  73 

of  hostilities  to  the  American  garrison  at  Macki 
naw,  and  the  first  announcement  they  received 
was  the  summons  to  surrender,  accentuated  by  the 
frowning  muzzles  of  British  artillery,  which  had 
been  cleverly  placed  to  command  the  fort  at  the 
weakest  point.  Of  course  the  island  was  surren 
dered,  and  a  post  which  might  have  retained  a 
controlling  influence  over  the  northern  Indians 
was  turned  over  to  the  British.  This  has  been 
attributed  to  the  criminal  remissness  or  imbecility 
of  the  secretary  of  war.1  But  the  truth  of  this 
assertion  is  no  justification  for  Governor  Hull's 
failure  to  put  himself  into  communication  with  the 
different  portions  of  his  territory.  The  army  in 
Canada  was  now  distracted,  restless,  grumbling. 
The  general  had  no  confidence  in  himself  or  in 
others,  and  the  fall  of  Mackinaw  took  away  even 
that  which  he  had.  Hourly  the  northern  Indians 
might  appear  upon  the  scene,  and  Hull  was  borne 
down  with  a  dread  of  their  barbarous  warfare. 

Colonel  Proctor  arrived  at  Fort  Maiden  with 
some  reinforcements,  and  an  aggressive  warfare 
on  the  part  of  the  English  began.  Word  was 
received  that  the  provisions  and  men  for  which 
Hull  had  been  calling  had  been  sent  forward  by 
Governor  Meigs,  and  were  at  the  River  Raisin. 
Captain  Brush,  who  was  in  command  of  these 
reinforcements,  asked  for  an  escort;  for  the  Brit 
ish  could  easily  cross  the  river  and  intercept  him 
on  his  way  to  Detroit.  Hull  hesitated.  But  the 

1  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  p.  271.    , 


74  LEWIS  CASS 

Ohio  colonels  forced  him  into  compliance.  An 
inadequate  force  was  then  sent  under  Major  Van 
Horn.  They  were  repulsed  with  loss,  and  Hull's 
mail  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British  authorities. 
Again  Cass  and  the  other  colonels  said:  "Send 
five  hundred  men  to  escort  Brush  to  Detroit." 
"I  can  only  spare  a  hundred,"  l  replied  Hull  from 
behind  his  defenses  at  Sandwich.  At  length,  on 
August  7,  stung  into  motion  by  the  insistence 2  of 
his  subordinates,  he  announced  a  general  and  im 
mediate  attack  on  the  British  fort.  The  army 
were  joyfully  engaged  in  active  preparations  when 
Hull  summoned  his  officers  and  told  them  that  he 
had  decided  to  recross  to  Detroit,  and  on  August  8 
the  army  slunk  back  to  its  own  territory  disheart 
ened,  mutinous,  and  surly.  The  situation  was 
now  discouraging,  and  Hull  proposed  to  give  up 
Detroit  and  retreat  beyond  the  Maumee.  Had 
he  at  any  time  tested  properly  the  strength  of  the 
enemy  or  shown  the  requisite  energy  and  confidence, 
there  might  have  been  little  opposition  to  this 
plan ;  for  any  one  must  have  been  able  to  see  that 
Detroit  could  not  be  permanently  held  unless  the 
army  was  strong  enough  to  guard  its  line  of  com 
munications.  But  when  Hull  suggested  the  pro 
priety  of  retreating,  Cass  informed  him  that  the 
Ohio  militia  in  a  body  would  refuse  to  obey  such 
an  order. 

1  Lossing,  p.  277. 

2  Forbes's  Eeport  of  Trial  of  Brigadier-General  William  Hull, 
p.  57. 


THE  WAR  OF  1312  75 

Another  force,  under  Colonel  Miller,  was  sent 
down  the  river  to  escort  Captain  Brush.  When 
they  had  completed  about  half  the  distance  to  the 
Raisin,  a  deadly  fire  was  opened  upon  them  from 
Indians  and  English  in  ambush.  The  men  re 
sponded  gallantly  to  Colonel  Miller's  "Charge! 
boys,  charge ! "  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  en 
gagements  of  the  war  resulted  in  a  victory  for  the 
Americans.  But  the  victory  had  to  be  followed 
up,  or  Proctor  would  hurry  across  from  Maiden 
with  more  troops ;  for  he  well  knew  that  Hull  had 
given  up  all  idea  of  offensive  action.  Colonel 
Miller  reported  his  success,  and  asked  for  provi 
sions.  He  had  been  injured  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse,  but  he  did  not  ask  to  be  recalled.  On  the 
way  to  Detroit  his  messenger  met  Colonel  Cass, 
and  that  officer,  learning  of  Miller's  condition, 
added  the  following  characteristic  dispatch :  "  Sir, 
Colonel  Miller  is  sick;  may  I  relieve  him?  L. 
Cass."1  But  the  eagerness  of  Cass  and  the  brav 
ery  of  Miller  must  go  for  naught.  Miller  was 
immediately  ordered  back  to  Detroit,  while  the 
general  contented  himself  with  lamenting  that  the 
blood  of  seventy-five  men  had  been  shed  in  vain.2 

The  colonels  now  seriously  thought  of  deposing  3 
their  general;  but  they  finally  agreed  that  Gover- 

1  Lossing's  Field-Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  p.  282.     The  only 
authority  I  can  find  for  statement  in  the  text. 

2  Armstrong's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812,  vol.  i.  p.  30. 

8  A  Chapter  of  the  War  of  1812,  William  Stanley  Hatch,  p.  40, 
and  other  references ;  Letter  of  Cass  to  Secretary  of  War,  Sep 
tember  10,  1812. 


76  LEWIS  CASS 

nor  Meigs  should  hasten  to  Detroit  with  assistance, 
and  they  hoped  that  he  would  accept  the  command. 
Cass  at  once  wrote  a  cautious  letter  to  the  gover 
nor,  hinting  at  Hull's  incompetence,  and  stating 
that  Maiden  might  have  fallen,  but  that  the 
"golden  opportunity "  had  passed.  Before  the 
letter  was  signed  the  following  significant  post 
script  was  added :  "  Believe  all  the  bearer  will  tell 
you.  Believe  it,  however  it  may  astonish  you,  as 

much  as  if  told  by  one  of  us.  Even  a  C is 

talked  of  by  the  .  The  bearer  will  fill  the 

vacancy."1 

Brock,  a  general  of  dash,  vigor,  and  wonderful 
self-confidence,  now  arrived  at  Maiden.  A  few 
regulars  and  nearly  three  hundred  militia  2  accom 
panied  him.  The  numbers  of  the  Indians  had 
lately  increased  somewhat,  although  none  of  the 
northern  Indians  appeared  at  Detroit  until  some 
time  after  the  catastrophe  of  this  serio-comic 
drama.  Brock  erected  a  battery  where  it  might 
effectually  play  upon  the  American  fort.  But  no 
attempt  was  made  to  prevent  the  erection  of  this 
work  or  to  drive  the  enemy  from  it ;  General  Hull, 
with  admirable  sententiousness,  replied  to  Captain 
Dalliby,  who  asked  permission  to  open  fire  upon 
them:  "Mr.  Dalliby,  I  will  make  an  agreement 
with  the  enemy  that,  if  they  will  never  fire  on  me, 
I  will  never  fire  on  them.  Those  who  live  in  glass 
houses  must  not  throw  stones." 

Events  now  hurried  to  a  crisis.     On  August  14 

1  Niles's  Register,  vol.  iii.  p.  39.  2  Life  of  Brock,  p.  335. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  77 

McArthur  and  Cass  with  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men  were  sent  as  an  escort  to  Captain  Brush,  whc. 
had  determined  to  find  his  way  to  Detroit  by  a 
trail  which  ran  some  thirty  miles  back  from  th^ 
river.  These  young  officers  were  becoming  alto-, 
gether  too  restless,  and  might  be  seriously  thinking 
of  mutiny,  or,  more  terrible  still,  of  fighting !  On 
August  15  Brock  sent  Hull  the  following  letter, 
"The  force  at  my  disposal  authorizes  me  to  require 
of  you  the  immediate  surrender  of  Detroit.  It  is 
far  from  my  inclination  to  join  you  in  a  war  of 
extermination;  but  you  must  be  aware  that  the 
numerous  body  of  Indians,  who  have  attached 
themselves  to  my  troops,  will  be  beyond  my  con 
trol  the  moment  the  contest  commences.  You  will 
find  me  disposed  to  enter  into  such  conditions  as 
will  satisfy  the  most  scrupulous  sense  of  honor. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  McDonell  and  Major  Glegg 
are  fully  authorized  to  conclude  any  arrangement 
that  may  lead  to  prevent  the  unnecessary  effusion 
of  blood."1  Hull  detained  the  messenger  some 
two  hours,  and  then  returned  an  answer  fairly 
bristling  with  defiance. 

HEADQUARTERS,  DETROIT,  August  15,  1812. 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date.  I  have  no 
other  reply  to  make  than  to  inform  you  that  I  am  pre 
pared  to  meet  any  force  which  may  be  at  your  disposal, 
and  any  consequences  which  may  result  from  any  exer- 
tion  of  it  you  may  think  proper  to  make.2 

I  am,  etc.,  .  .  .  WILLIAM  HULL,  etc. 

1  Tupper's  Life  of  Brock,  p.  231 ;  Hull's  Memoirs,  p.  95. 

2  Hull's  Memoirs,  p.  96. 


78  LEWIS  CASS 

Immediately  the  British  guns  opened  on  Detroit, 
and  the  American  guns  replied.  Some  damage 
was  done  to  the  frail  structures  of  the  town,  which 
was  beginning  to  present  a  spectacle  demoralizing 
and  pitiful.  The  people  of  the  neighborhood  had 
crowded  into  the  place  for  protection.  Trembling 
women  and  bewildered  children  pleaded  by  their 
presence  for  a  bold  stand  against  Indian  cruelty 
and  vengeance.  All  had  lost  confidence  in  their 
obsolete  general,  and  he,  tenderhearted  and  com 
passionate,  was  overwhelmed  with  dread  and  op 
pressed  with  responsibility.  Occasionally  the  old 
Revolutionary  spirit  awakened  within  him,  but  it 
was  generally  smothered  by  the  kindly  weakness 
and  hesitancy  which  prompted  to  pity  and  ended 
in  cruel  inactivity.1 

The  quiet,  beautiful  Sabbath  morning  of  August 
16  was  rudely  disturbed  by  the  booming  of  the 
British  cannon.  Again  were  pictured  forth  to  the 
general's  mind  awful  scenes  of  Indian  atrocities, 
the  unspeakable  horrors  of  the  tomahawk  and 
scalping-knife.  His  memory  of  border  tales  and 
fables  furnished  food  to  his  greedy  imagination. 
"My  God! "  he  exclaimed,  "what  shall  I  do  with 
these  women  and  children?"  He  sat  on  the 
ground,  with  his  back  toward  the  wall  of  the  fort, 

1  "  Desperate  the  situation  seemed  to  be ;  yet  a  good  general 
would  have  saved  Detroit  for  some  weeks.  .  .  .  Doubtless  his 
fears  were  well  founded,  but  a  general-in-chief  whose  mind  was 
paralyzed  by  such  thoughts  could  not  measure  himself  with  Isaac 
Brock."  Adams's  History  of  the  United  States  during  the  First 
Administration  of  James  Madison,  vol.  ii.  p.  327. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  79 

overcome  with  anxiety  and  distress.  "He  appar 
ently  unconsciously  filled  his  mouth  with  tobacco, 
putting  in  quid  after  quid  more  than  he  generally 
did;  the  spittle  colored  with  tobacco  juice  ran 
from  his  mouth  on  his  neckcloth,  beard,  cravat, 
and  vest."1  The  enemy  cross  the  river;  not  a 
shot  from  American  guns  or  cannon  threatens 
them.  They  march  toward  Detroit  along  a  nar 
row  road,  where  a  well-posted  battery  can  shatter 
their  lines.  Not  a  gun  is  fired  to  check  them; 
but  a  ball  from  the  battery  at  Sandwich  takes 
effect  in  the  fort;  women  are  carried  away  sense 
less;  men  are  killed,  and  a  white  flag  flutters  over 
the  bastions  of  the  American  defenses. 

That  was  the  end  of  the  "proclamatory  "  inva 
sion  of  Canada.  Cass  and  McArthur  were  hurry 
ing  back,  hoping  to  reach  the  fort  before  there 
was  any  real  danger,  or  to  attack  the  enemy  in 
the  rear  if  he  was  on  the  American  side  of  the 
river.  But  the  white  flag  had  spiked  the  British 
guns,  and,  as  they  neared  Detroit,  not  a  cannon 
shot  awakened  the  echoes  to  summon  them  to  ac 
tion.  They  soon  found  that  Hull  had  included 
them  and  their  force  in  his  capitulation,  without 
giving  them  a  chance  to  escape.  Cass,  exasper 
ated  beyond  endurance,  snapped  his  sword  in 

1  HulVs  Trial,  p.  40.  Testimony  of  Major  Snelling.  There  is 
some  testimony  to  the  effect  that  Hull  conducted  himself  pro 
perly  ;  but  the  overwhelming  weight  of  evidence  seems  to  be  that 
he  was  at  this  time  utterly  unfit  for  the  responsibilities  of  the 
moment 


80  LEWIS  CASS 

twain,  rather  than  disgrace  himself  by  its  sur 
render.  "Basely  to  surrender  without  firing  a 
gun ! "  he  moaned  in  mingled  anger  and  chagrin. 
"Tamely  to  submit  without  raising  a  bayonet!" 
Even  Brush  and  his  men  were  included  in  the  sur 
render  at  Hull's  own  instance.  For  forty  years 
to  come  Detroit  citizens  could  not  remember  the 
occurrence  without  flushing  with  mortification. 
Hull  did  not  have  the  courage  of  brave  Croghan, 
who,  with  his  little  garrison  surrounded  by  thirty 
times  its  numbers,  answered  a  summons  to  surren 
der  with  the  reply,  "When  the  fort  shall  be  taken 
there  will  be  none  to  massacre."  On  this  sad 
16th  of  August  a  band  of  Kentucky  volunteers, 
collected  to  reinforce  Hull,  were  listening  at 
Georgetown  to  the  eloquence  of  Clay,  who  pictured 
in  joyful  anticipation  the  capture  of  Maiden  and 
the  conquest  of  Upper  Canada. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  with  exactness  the 
number  of  the  men  surrendered  or  of  those  com 
manded  by  Brock.  Hull  estimated  his  own  effec 
tive  force  at  less  than  1000, l  Cass  at  1060,2  not 
including  either  the  300  Michigan  militia  on  duty 
or  the  detachment  sent  to  meet  Brush.  Brock, 
intoxicated  with  success,  reports  the  capture  of 
2500  men.3  This  was  undoubtedly  an  exaggera- 

1  Hull's  Memoirs  ;  Clarke's  History  of  the  Campaign  of  1812, 
etc.,  p.  386. 

2  Niles's  Register,  p.  38 ;  Cass's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War; 
Hull's  Trial,  Appendix  No.  II.  p.  27. 

8  Tapper's  Life  of  Brock,  p.  247. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  81 

tion.  His  own  men,  however,  aggregated,  accord 
ing  to  his  own  report,  1330,  including  600  Indians. 
Possibly  he  underestimated,  for  his  own  glorifi 
cation,  the  number  of  his  savage  allies.  To  an 
inferior  besieging  force,  for  the  Indians  are  noto 
riously  useless  in  attacking  a  fortress,  Hull  sur 
rendered  with  such  indecent  speed  that  he  made 
no  provision  for  the  Canadians  who  had  deserted 
to  him,  nor  for  the  men  who  were  with  him  and 
had  been  eager  to  fight  by  his  side. 

No  proper  steps  had  been  taken  by  the  govern 
ment  to  protect  the  distant  frontier,  and  Hull  had 
already  sent  orders  for  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Dearborn,  where  Chicago  now  stands;  and  in  spite 
of  the  intercession  of  those  who  realized  the  danger, 
Captain  Heald  obeyed  the  order,  withdrew  his 
garrison  and  the  families  from  the  fort,  and  began 
the  long,  dreary  march  to  Detroit.  They  knew 
that  they  were  marching  to  their  doom,  and  as 
they  left  their  fort,  their  little  military  band  is 
said  to  have  struck  up  the  Dead  March  in  Saul. 
It  was  at  least  appropriate.  Men,  women,  and 
children  were  murdered  in  a  desperate  conflict, 
scarcely  any  escaping  to  tell  of  the  event. 

One  problem  remains  to  be  examined:  how  to 
account  for  Brock's  rash  attack  upon  a  strong  for 
tress  defended  by  a  superior  force.  The  answer 
has  been  already  suggested.  He  discovered  Hull's 
trepidation,  was  sure  that  his  opponent  was  weak, 
faltering,  and  despondent.  He  thus  exultingly 
wrote  to  his  brothers  on  September  3 :  — 


82  LEWIS  CASS 

Some  say  that  nothing  could  be  more  desperate  than 
the  measure  ;  but  I  answer  that  the  state  of  the  province 
admitted  of  nothing  but  desperate  remedies.  I  got  pos 
session  of  the  letters  of  my  antagonist  addressed  to  the 
secretary  of  war,  and  also  of  the  sentiments  which  hun 
dreds  of  his  army  uttered  to  their  friends.  .  .  .  It  is 
therefore  no  wonder  thai  envy  should  attribute  to  good 
fortune  what,  in  justice  to  my  own  discernment,  I  must 
say  proceeded  from  a  cool  calculation  of  the/x/ur*  and 
control 

• 

The  soldiers  were  paroled,  and  went,  shamefaced 
and  angry,  to  their  homes.  Hull  was  taken  to 
Montreal,  bat  was  released  by  his  captors,  perhaps 
in  hopes  that  his  load  laments  over  the  imbecility 
of  the  administration  might  heighten  disaffection.1 
CMS,  paroled,  under  Colonel  McArthnr's  orders, 
JMMtcnrd  to  Washington,  and  made  a  report  to  the 
secretary  of  war,  which,  full  of  indignation  and 
disgust,  was  yet  a  fair  statement  of  the  disastrous 
ineomptteofc  of  the  general.  The  people  were 
wild  with  excitement,  and  poured  out  abuse  on  all 
concerned  in  the  childish  tottering*  of  the  cam 
paign.  The  administration  and  its  feeble  generals, 
quite  willing  to  secure  a  victim  for  the  sacrifice, 
led  Hull,  complaining,  to  the  alter.  A  court' 
martial  met  at  Albany  in  January,  1814.  Major- 
General  Dearborn,  whose  considerate  and  peaceful 

*  ?*&*>*  Life  <tf  Brock. 

*  A  letter  from  Pmrosi  to  Brtfanst  says,  "Han  ha*  bee» 
allowed  to  go  to  Boston  on  parole for  the  porjMwe  of  just 
ifying  hk  fgalarf  to  1m  government."    J2g»r*  </  Canadian 


THE   WAR  OF  1812  83 

mode  of  warfare  had  prevented  him  from  making 
a  diversion  in  Hull's  favor,  sat  as  president,  and 
Martin  Van  Bnren  appeared  as  special  judge  advo 
cate.  Cass  was  the  first  witness.  His  testimony 
was  convincing  and  overwhelming,  and  was  cor 
roborated  by  that  of  McArthur  and  others.  Yet 
his  statements  have  been  attributed  to  sinister 
motives.  He  has  been  charged  with  duplicity  as 
a  tool  of  the  administration,  although  it  is  per- 
feetly  evident  that  his  enmity  towards  Hull  be-an 
in  those  dreary  days  in  Canada,  when  Hull's  en 
ergy  was  absorbed  in  summoning  eonneils  and  dis- 
ourctiag  excuses  for  fatal  delay.  A  letter  written 
by  Cass  to  his  brother-in-law,  Silliman,  a  few 
days  before  the  surrender,  introduced  by  Hull  to 
prove  the  inconsistency  of  his  accuser,  has  been 
forced  to  carry  that  burden  even  by  later  writers. 
But  a  fair  interpretation  will  show  neither  inoon- 
sistenvy  nor  equivocation. 

The  court-martial  was  probably  prejudiced 
against  Hull ;  and  yet  one  cannot  say  that  its  find- 
ini;-s  were  altogether  unwarranted.  Pearborn  him 
self  had  been  inefficient,  and  was  in  part  to  blame 
for  the  perilous  situation  in  which  the  arrival  of 
Brock  with  reinforcements  placed  the  western 
army.  The  war  department  also  had  expected  too 
much  of  Hull,  and  had  not  taken  prompt  and 
aetive  measures  either  to  keep  the  enemy  oeenpied 
in  the  East,  or  to  give  Hull  other  necessary  assis 
tance  in  his  undertakings.  And  yet  any  one  look- 
over  the  evidenee  \sill  bo  likely  to  say  that  he 


84  LEWIS  CASS 

was  not  fit  for  his  arduous  and  difficult  task,  and 
that,  deficient  at  first  in  activity  and  energy,  he 
showed  at  the  end  culpable  indecision  and  a  timid 
ity  which  seemed  to  many  of  the  onlookers  nothing 
less  than  cowardice.  Perhaps  he  would  have  been 
justified  in  retiring  beyond  the  Maumee,  as  soon 
as  he  heard  of  Brock's  approach,  or  saw  that  he 
could  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  if  at  all, 
keep  his  communication  open;  but  he  was  not 
entirely  guiltless  of  producing  the  state  of  affairs 
which  provoked  the  threat  that  the  militia  would 
refuse  to  obey  an  order  to  retreat. 

The  court  found  General  Hull  guilty  of  coward 
ice  and  neglect  of  duty,  and  sentenced  him  to  be 
shot.  Madison,  tempering  justice  with  mercy, 
approved  the  sentence,  but  remitted  its  execution, 
out  of  respect  for  the  past  services  of  one  who,  as 
a  boy  fresh  from  college,  entered  the  patriot  army 
immediately  after  Lexington,  fought  with  cool  and 
fearless  energy,  endured  sufferings  and  fatigues 
with  noble  cheerfulness,  and  received  acknowledg 
ments  of  faithfulness  from  Washington  himself. 
His  last  years  were  spent  in  comfort,  but  not  in 
luxury.  Presiding  with  simple  unaffectedness  at 
the  "bounteous  Thanksgiving  dinner,"  or  watch 
ing  his  merry  grandchildren  dancing  in  time  to 
the  music  "of  old  Tillo's  fiddle,"1  he  was  much 
nearer  his  proper  occupation  than  when  command 
ing  a  rough,  boisterous,  backwoods  army  in  a  dan 
gerous  and  important  campaign. 

1  Memorial  and  Biographical  Sketches,  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
p.  439. 


THE   WAR  OF  1812  85 

In  December,  1812,  Cass  was  appointed  major- 
general  in  the  Ohio  militia,  but  he  was  not  yet 
exchanged,  and  was  prevented  by  his  parole  from 
entering  into  active  service.  In  January  the  Presi 
dent  determined  to  raise  two  regiments  of  regular 
troops  in  Ohio,  and  Cass,  instructed  to  raise  one, 
was  appointed  a  colonel  in  the  army,  February 
20,  1813. 1  His  parole  was  removed  about  the 
middle  of  January,  and  he  then  proceeded  with  his 
task.  Ohio  and  Kentucky  were  furious  at  the 
defeat  and  surrender  of  Hull.  A  perfect  tidal 
wave  of  patriotism  and  resentment  swept  over 
these  States,  and  Cass  had  no  difficulty  in  obtain 
ing  his  quota  of  men.  The  government,  confiding 
in  his  fidelity  and  energy,  now  made  him  briga 
dier-general2  in  the  regular  army,  to  act  under 
Major-General  Harrison  in  the  West. 

In  January,  1813,  General  Winchester  had 
marched  toward  Detroit  with  a  fine  army  of  stal 
wart  Kentuckians,  the  foremost  young  men  in  the 
State,  who  were  burning  to  avenge  the  surrender 
of  Detroit,  and  to  give  a  sound  whipping  to  the 
Indians,  whose  successful  insolence  was  madden 
ing  to  a  Kentucky  pioneer.  The  massacre  at  the 
Eiver  Raisin  was  the  sad  end  of  their  hopes. 
Robbing,  plundering,  murdering,  scalping,  vile 
mutilations,  barbarities  too  horrible  to  mention, 
followed  the  fall  of  the  brave  Kentuckians,  who 
had  come  so  full  of  eager  pride  and  bravery.  From 

1  Records  of  War  Department. 

2  March  12,  1813.    Records  of  War  Department. 


86  LEWIS  CASS 

that  time  to  the  battle  of  the  Thames  the  Indians, 
unrestrained  by  the  infamous  Proctor,  were  a  con 
tinual  menace  to  the  whole  territory  of  Michigan. 
Their  cruelties  were  constant.  Property  was  wasted 
or  destroyed;  everywhere  were  confusion,  misery, 
and  fear.1 

General  Cass  was  actively  engaged  in  the  cam 
paign  of  1813.  He  was,  as  before,  energetic  and 
hopeful,  a  strong  support  for  General  Harrison, 
who  relied  upon  his  advice  and  trusted  in  his  wis 
dom.  They  worked  well  together.  After  years 
found  Cass  a  courageous  defender  of  the  "Hero 
of  Tippecanoe,"  when  political  scribblers  fought 
the  battles  over  again,  and  sought  to  prove  the 
victor  a  slovenly  child  of  fortune.  Some  manoeu- 
vrings  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sandusky  were 
without  importance  to  the  main  body  of  the  army, 
though  rendered  famous  by  Croghan's  courageous 
defense  of  his  fort.  On  September  10  Commodore 
Perry  sent  Harrison  his  famous  laconic,  "We 
have  met  the  enemy,  and  they  are  ours."  The 
victorious  fleet  at  once  conveyed  Harrison  to  Can 
ada.  In  spite  of  the  taunts  of  Tecumseh,  who 
likened  the  retreating  general  to  a  "fat  dog  that 
drops  his  tail  between  his  legs  and  runs  off,"  Proc 
tor  abandoned  Maiden  and  retreated  to  the  inte- 


1  Michigan  Pioneer  Collection,  vol.  iv.  p.  320  ;  Wisconsin's  His- 
torical  Collection,  vol.  iii.  p.  318,  Witherell's  Reminiscences  ;  Niles's 
Register,  vol.  i.  p.  91,  giving  Judge  Woodward's  letter  to  General 
Proctor ;  Barbarities  of  the  Enemy,  A  Report  of  the  Committee 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  (1813),  Troy,  1813. 


THE   WAR  OF  1812  87 

rior.  He  was  pursued  and  defeated  at  the  battle 
of  the  Thames.  "Kentuckians,  remember  the 
River  Raisin!  "  was  the  inspiring  battle-cry.  Te- 
cumseh,  a  braver  and  abler  general  than  his  white 
chief,  was  there  killed  by  Colonel  R.  M.  Johnson. 
Only  a  small  portion  of  Cass's  command  was  pre 
sent  at  this  fight.  He  acted,  therefore,  as  aide- 
de-camp  to  General  Harrison,  and  was  rewarded 
with  a  complimentary  notice  of  his  services  in  the 
general's  report  to  the  secretary  of  war. 


CHAPTER   IV 

GOVERNOR   OF  MICHIGAN   TERRITORY 

THE  battle  of  the  Thames  secured  the  Northwest 
to  the  Americans.  General  Harrison,  desiring  to 
cooperate  with  our  army  in  eastern  Canada  and 
New  York,  left  the  command  of  Detroit  and  the 
subjugated  portion  of  western  Canada  to  General 
Cass.  The  situation  was  not  a  simple  one.  The 
Indians,  excited  by  the  bloodshed  and  pillage  of 
the  preceding  winter  and  spring,  were  restless  and 
a  constant  menace  to  the  little  village  and  the 
people  of  the  whole  region,  which  was  already 
desolated  by  the  war.  On  October  29  the  Presi 
dent  appointed  Cass  governor  of  Michigan  Terri 
tory.  He  prepared  at  once  to  assume  the  arduous 
duties  of  his  new  office.  During  a  portion  of  the 
succeeding  winter  he  attended  the  trial  of  Hull  at 
Albany,  where  he  was  the  chief  witness.  With 
the  exception  of  some  such  temporary  absences  as 
this,  he  was  continually  resident  in  the  Territory 
for  the  next  eighteen  years,  giving  to  its  people 
the  energy  of  his  young  manhood  and  vigorous 
middle  age,  and  inseparably  connecting  his  name 
with  the  foundation  and  progress  of  Michigan  and 
the  development  of  the  Northwest. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN   TERRITORY      89 

Life  at  the  frontier  post  was  occasionally  ro 
mantic,  but  never  free  from  grave  responsibility 
and  anxiety.  At  the  outset  duties  pressed  upon 
him  in  battalions.  Although  General  Harrison 
had  concluded  an  armistice  with  the  greater  por 
tion  of  tribes,  many  hostile  Indians  were  still  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  must  be  kept  in  subjection. 
The  homeless  fugitives,  robbed  of  their  all  by  the 
hirelings  of  Proctor,  needed  protection  and  sup 
port.  Detroit,  itself  in  confusion  and  anarchy, 
demanded  the  careful,  firm,  and  kind  hand  of 
friendly  authority.  Through  the  whole  winter  of 
1813-14  Michigan  Territory  was  in  a  pitiful  con 
dition.  The  poor  people  from  the  Raisin  district, 
whose  houses  had  been  burned  or  left  in  desola 
tion,  without  food  or  means  to  obtain  it,  hovered, 
clamoring,  in  the  village  where  the  young  governor 
was  expected  to  turn  the  stones  into  bread.  The 
lives  of  the  French  people  had  been  spared  by 
the  Indians  because  of  the  general  friendliness  be 
tween  the  two  races,  but  the  hungry  savages  had 
killed  their  cattle,  carried  off  the  fruit  from  the 
orchards,  burnt  the  fences  and  the  floors  of  the 
houses,  and  left  the  habitant  in  the  direst  destitu 
tion.  Above  all,  many  Indians,  no  longer  sup 
plied  from  the  train-bands  of  the  British  army, 
were  themselves  thrown  on  the  mercy  and  human 
ity  of  the  Americans.  The  public  stores  were 
used  to  drive  away  actual  starvation ;  but  so  great 
was  the  want  and  poverty  that  a  petition  for  help 
was  sent  to  Washington ;  in  response  to  which  the 


90  LEWIS  CASS 

President  asked  Congress  for  a  special  appropria 
tion. 

Nothing  can  be  said  in  exaggeration  of  the  deso 
late  state  of  Michigan  for  about  two  years  after 
its  recovery  by  the  Americans.  The  French  at  the 
Kiver  Eaisin,  who,  with  all  their  ignorance  of 
farming,  had  had  comfortable  cabins,  as  well  as 
fields  and  orchards  which  supplied  their  humble 
wants,  were  reduced  to  such  penury  on  their  re 
turn  to  their  farms  that  even  very  meagre  food 
was  obtained  with  difficulty.  They  lacked  the 
nervous  tension  and  vigor  which  tones  up  the 
American  pioneer  to  resist  expected  danger  and 
surmount  difficulties.  Light-hearted  and  cheerful 
in  all  ordinary  trials,  their  easy-going  dispositions, 
their  unfamiliarity  with  the  common  devices  which 
necessity  begets  in  the  frontier  life  of  the  inventive 
Yankee,  their  content  with  the  past,  and  faith  in 
the  unearned  blessings  of  the  future,  kept  them 
penniless  and  breadless  when  keener  intelligence 
might  have  lifted  them  above  want.  The  settlers 
near  Detroit  were  in  woeful  straits,  but  everything 
seems  to  show  that  the  French  of  the  River  Raisin 
were  more  ignorant  and  less  thrifty  than  the  habi 
tant  to  the  north,  and  upon  them  had  come  the 
extreme  cruelty  and  destruction  of  the  war.  Cass 
worked  for  his  hungry  Territory  with  untiring  vigi 
lance,  distributing  largesses  from  the  public  stores, 
calling  upon  the  government  for  aid,  organizing 
and  instructing  with  zeal  and  energy.  No  portion 
of  his  career  is  more  worthy  of  admiration  than 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY      91 

this,  when  his  direst  enemies  were  anarchy  and 
hunger.  A  true  picture  of  the  governorship  of 
Cass  and  the  early  history  of  the  reclaimed  Terri 
tory  will  be  shaded  into  its  proper  depth  of  color 
by  a  remembrance  of  the  peculiar  trials  attending 
them. 

Besides  the  general  poverty  and  distress  of  the 
Territory,  other  dangers  confronted  the  people  of 
the  "double  frontier."  When  the  Indians,  threat 
ened  by  starvation,  were  not  praying  for  suste 
nance  at  the  hands  of  the  authorities,  they  seem 
to  have  been  satisfying  their  hatred  of  the  "big 
knives,"  as  they  called  the  Americans,  by  unex 
pected  attacks  upon  them  and  their  property. 
They  beleaguered  the  little  village,  pillaging,  mur 
dering,  and  scalping  in  the  ruthless  fashion  which 
they  had  adopted  under  Proctor's  tender  instruc 
tion.  Cass  felt  that  his  great  task  was  to  restore 
confidence  to  the  cowering  people,  to  induce  them 
to  return  to  their  homes,  and  to  begin  again  their 
peaceful  lives.  As  a  first  step  to  this  end,  he  de 
cided  that  these  annoyances  from  the  savages  must 
cease.  A  bold  attack  upon  the  Indians  seemed 
the  most  satisfactory  method  of  procedure;  and, 
successful  in  that,  a  stockade  might  be  built  and 
blockhouses  reared  at  the  expense  of  the  general 
government,  to  protect  the  frontier  and  overawe 
the  red  men.  In  September,  1814,  the  settlement 
was  in  especial  danger  from  these  marauding 
bands,  and  the  young  men  of  the  village  organized 
for  an  attack.  General  Cass  led  the  little  com- 


92  LEWIS  CASS 

pany  into  a  bloody  skirmish,  in  which  the  Indians 
were  beaten.  During  the  whole  affair  Cass  dis 
played  that  calm  ignoring  of  danger  which  was  so 
characteristic  of  him,  and  which  powerfully  influ 
enced  the  impressionable  savage.  Riding  at  the 
head  of  his  men,  he  was  advised  by  one  of  his 
company,  Major  Whipple,  to  fall  back  to  the 
centre,  as,  should  he  be  killed,  it  might  create 
confusion;  but  he  answered,  "Oh,  major,  I  am 
pretty  well  off  here;  let  us  push  on."  Various 
sallies  of  this  character  upon  the  Indians  skulking 
along  the  river  soon  freed  the  people  of  their  more 
abject  fear.  All  had  confidence  in  their  young 
governor,  and  willingly  followed  him  into  any 
danger.  "His  constant,  unremitting  vigilance 
and  energetic  conduct  saved  our  people  from  many 
of  the  horrors  of  war,  and  he  was  sustained  by  our 
habitants.1'1 

The  savages  had  rendered  the  British  such  effi 
cient  service  that  in  1814  our  government  strove  to 
obtain  like  aid.  Possibly  we  can  plead  in  justifi 
cation  that  this  was  merely  a  defensive  measure, 
but  we  cannot  deny  the  fact.  July  22,  1814, 
General  Harrison  and  Governor  Cass  met  in  coun 
cil  with  a  number  of  Indians  at  Greenville,  Ohio, 
and  there  entered  into  an  agreement  in  which  the 
Indians  promised  assistance,  and  the  commissioners 
pledged  protection.  Cass  returned  to  Detroit,  ac 
companied  by  a  band  which  became  personally 
attached  to  him.  Fortunately  his  influence  over 

1  Witherell's  Reminiscences,  Wisconsin  Hist.  Col.  vol.  iii.  p.  324. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY      93 

them  was  so  great  that  the  disgraceful  scenes  of 
Proctor's  occupation  were  not  repeated.  The  use 
of  savages  in  civilized  warfare  is  inexcusable;  but 
in  this  case  the  disastrous  consequences  were  re 
duced  to  a  minimum. 

In  spite  of  the  successful  vigor  of  Cass,  his  situ 
ation  was  perilous  and  anxious  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  Having  resigned  his  military  commission 
April  6,  1814, 1  he  found  himself  in  the  anomalous 
position  of  bearing  responsibility  unassisted  by 
the  requisite  authority.  The  few  United  States 
troops  that  had  been  left  at  Detroit  objected  to 
receiving  commands  from  a  civil  officer;  the  con 
stant  presence  of  threatening  Indians,  and  the 
disordered  condition  of  the  defenses  of  the  town 
called  for  action  in  preparation  for  a  possible  re 
currence  of  the  events  of  1812.  Should  our  army 
prove  ineffective  in  the  East,  or  should  affairs  in 
Europe  suddenly  take  a  different  turn,  Detroit 
might  again,  in  an  instant,  become  a  salient  point 
and  a  position  of  great  strategic  importance.  A 
letter  of  August  13,  from  the  secretary  of  war, 
authorized  the  governor,  in  the  absence  of  a  gen 
eral  officer,  to  take  command  of  all  the  forces  at 
Detroit  in  case  of  attack.  But  with  such  half 
hearted  trust  he  was  not  content.  All  save  a  very 
few  troops  were  bravely  sent  to  the  East  to  assist 
the  movement  of  our  army  on  the  Niagara  fron 
tier,  and  he  was  obliged  to  rely  mainly  on  the 
volunteer  services  of  the  weary  and  pillaged  in- 

1  Records  of  War  Department. 


94  LEWIS  CASS 

habitants  of  the  Territory.  Even  in  these  straits 
he  did  not  stand  all  the  day  idle,  complaining  of 
his  helplessness;  but  with  his  "pet  Indians"  he 
gave  material  aid  in  the  progress  of  the  war  by 
making  feints  against  the  Canadian  inhabitants 
and  property  in  the  eastern  portion  of  Upper 
Canada.  He  asserted,  however,  in  his  communi 
cations  to  the  War  Department,  that  should  a 
general  attack  be  made  by  the  British  forces,  he 
should  retire  from  the  Territory,  unaided  as  he  was 
by  the  militia  from  the  south,  which  he  had  had 
every  reason  to  expect.  Amid  all  these  troubles 
and  anxieties,  the  work  of  bringing  order  and 
tranquillity  into  the  disordered  Territory  went 
bravely  on. 

Peace  came  to  a  jubilant  country  before  another 
campaign  brought  its  load  of  mingled  victory  and 
defeat.  Men  wept  in  each  other's  arms  in  joy 
that  the  war  was  over,  —  a  war  conducted  with 
neither  energy  nor  skill,  and  concluded  by  a  treaty 
that  was  little  more  than  an  armistice,  settling 
none  of  the  questions  for  which  we  had  blustered 
into  the  war,  with  our  armor  rusty  and  our  flint 
locks  out  of  repair.  Our  victories  on  the  sea  had, 
however,  beaten  into  our  opponents  a  modicum  of 
respect  for  us.  Now,  at  last,  to  the  happy  people 
the  sky  seemed  spanned  by  a  bow  of  promise,  — 
no  more  impressments,  no  more  highway  robbery 
of  men  and  goods  from  well-behaving  neutrals. 
The  pot  of  gold  at  the  foot  of  this  rainbow  did 
not,  however,  lie  in  the  neighborhood  of  Detroit. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN   TERRITORY     95 

Peace  for  a  moment  shed  its  warming  rays  into 
that  desolate  country ;  but  it  served  only  to  render 
more  visible  the  havoc  of  the  war,  and  to  show  the 
immensity  of  the  task  of  restoring  prosperity  and 
confidence  and  of  raising  the  Territory  into  a  self- 
sustaining  portion  of  the  country. 

The  work  of  General  Cass's  governorship  natu 
rally  divides  itself  into  a  series  of  undertakings, 
which  clearly  present  themselves  as  one  glances 
back  over  the  period,  and  the  importance  of  which 
he,  at  the  time,  fully  realized.  By  his  apprecia 
tion  of  the  peculiar  duties  laid  upon  him,  he  made 
them  more  distinct,  and  gave  to  his  administration 
a  singular  completeness  and  unity.  His  greatest 
problem,  embracing  or  touching  all  the  rest,  was 
to  convert  the  French  settlement,  at  present  tor 
tured  by  actual  want  and,  at  its  best,  defenseless, 
foreign,  and  slow,  into  an  active  American  commu 
nity,  prosperous  and  progressive  in  peace,  capable 
of  self-defense  in  war,  a  real  buckler  to  that 
Northwest  which  never  ceased  to  tempt  the  covet 
ous  eyes  of  the  English.  Michigan  must  be  Ameri 
canized  and  colonized ;  its  strategic  value  must  be 
estimated  aright  and  its  physical  charms  displayed ; 
the  whole  Northwest  must  be  so  protected  and 
guided  that  the  tide  of  immigration  which  had  set 
in  over  its  southeastern  border  would  encounter 
no  wall  in  its  onward  sweep,  until  it  had  carried 
the  schoolhouse  and  the  newspaper  into  the  far 
thest  corner  of  that  land  where  the  Jesuit  had,  a 
century  before,  planted  his  cross  and  sung  his  ave. 


96  LEWIS  CASS 

In  1846-47,  thirty  years  after  the  first  trials  of 
his  governorship,  Cass  was  struggling  in  the  Sen 
ate  for  the  possession  of  the  far  Northwest  above 
the  line  of  49° ;  that  contest  was  the  afterglow  of 
the  fire  of  his  younger  life,  which  had  been  de 
voted  to  the  extension  of  his  country's  civilization 
into  its  remote  and  seemingly  unattractive  corners. 
The  distress  consequent  upon  the  British  and 
Indian  occupation  of  Michigan  was,  as  has  been 
said,  partly  relieved  before  the  war  was  finished, 
But  through  the  whole  summer  of  1815  many  of 
the  inhabitants  needed  assistance.  In  May,  1815, 
the  War  Department  authorized  Governor  Cass  to 
distribute  11500  among  the  poor  of  the  Territory. 
This  trifling  sum,  which  would  hardly  keep  star 
vation  at  bay,  much  less  provide  for  making  the 
people  self-supporting,  he  was  directed  to  spend 
with  care  and  economy,  and  to  draw  for  more  if 
necessary.1  The  national  government  was  not  so 
freighted  with  a  surplus  after  the  war  that  it  could 
afford  to .  do  more  than  dribble  out  its  dollars. 
This  money,  spent  in  flour  to  be  given  to  the 
Raisin  settlers,  was  a  temporary  relief,  but  not 
a  remedy  for  the  ills  of  the  Territory.2  .So  many 
of  the  people  were  without  the  fundamental  ideas 
of  sensible  farming  that  thrift  and  prosperity  could 
not  be  purchased  by  occasional  alms.  The  happy 
French  farmers  near  Detroit  were  content  with 
their  big  orchards  and  shaggy  ponies.  The  poorer 

1  Archives  in  State  Department  of  Michigan. 

2  Rid. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY      97 

ones,  brought  for  the  time  being  out  of  actual  suf 
fering,  began  again  their  careless  farming,  making 
no  attempt  to  push  back  into  the  unbroken  forests 
which  hemmed  them  in  to  the  river's  brink.  Cass 
proclaimed  the  need  of  American  enterprise  and 
skill.  If  a  few  Eastern  farmers  could  display 
before  the  astonished  eyes  of  the  French  Canadian 
their  habitual  providence  and  energy,  the  old 
wooden  ploughshare  and  clumsy  hoe  might  give 
place  to  more  modern  implements.  With  this  idea 
in  mind,  Governor  Cass  proceeded  to  make  its 
necessity  evident  by  direct  statement  of  his  de 
sires.  But  the  indirect  method  seemed,  on  the 
whole,  more  efficacious.  If  lands  were  offered 
freely  for  sale,  and  their  attractions  and  value 
demonstrated  by  successful  tillage,  Americans  from 
the  older  States  might  be  attracted  into  the  Terri 
tory.  His  efforts  towards  the  accomplishment  of 
this  purpose  furnish  in  detail  an  interesting  study. 
The  following  outlines  are  suggestive. 

By  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  2,000,000  acres  were  to  be  selected  in 
Michigan,  to  be  given  as  bounty  lands  to  volun 
teers.  Cass  desired  that  these  surveys  should  be 
quickly  made  in  order  that  at  least  a  few  settlers, 
taking  advantage  of  the  gift,  might  make  their 
homes  in  the  Territory,  and  introduce  a  larger 
American  element  on  which  and  with  which  to 
work.  But  disappointing  delays  awaited  him. 
The  surveyors,  to  whom  had  been  given  the  task 
of  running  the  proposed  meridian  line  from  the 


98  LEWIS  CASS 

Au  Glaize  River  due  north,  beginning  their  task 
in  the  early  winter,  returned  to  Ohio  after  a  short 
absence  with  a  most  lugubrious  account  of  the 
cheerless  territory.  Cass  had  been  in  communica 
tion  with  the  Indians,  and  was  able  to  assure  the 
surveyors  that  there  was  no  reason  to  fear;  but 
either  hardship  and  fatigue,  or  dread  of  attack, 
had  so  perverted  their  judgment  of  the  country 
that  they  described  the  interior  of  Michigan  as 
one  vast  morass,  its  monotony  occasionally  broken 
by  sandhills  without  the  covering  of  attractive 
vegetation.  The  President,  assured  by  the  com 
missioner  of  the  land  office  that  scarcely  one  acre 
in  a  thousand  was  fit  for  cultivation,  advised  Con 
gress,  in  February,  1816,  that  the  quota  of  bounty 
lands  assigned  to  Michigan  might  better  be  located 
in  other  parts  of  the  Northwest. 

The  people  of  the  Eastern  States,  receiving  this 
official  condemnation  of  the  country,  believed  for 
years  that  the  rich,  rolling  lands  of  the  southern 
peninsula  of  Michigan  were  a  barren  waste.  The 
great  American  desert  has  been  a  very  movable 
spot  in  our  geography.  Cass  was  never  entirely 
successful  in  relieving  the  Territory  of  the  weight 
of  this  truthless  description.  For  years  it  lay 
like  a  millstone  on  the  shoulders  of  the  struggling 
young  province.  Disappointed  and  discomfited, 
the  governor  did  not  despair.  Insisting  upon  the 
good  character  of  the  soil  and  climate,  he  finally 
secured,  in  1818,  the  location  of  a  public  land 
office;  lands  were  offered  for  sale,  and  the  history 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY     99 

of  Michigan,  as  an  American  settlement,  began. 
Slowly  it  rose  to  a  position  of  dignity  and  power, 
as  its  resources  and  beauties  were  made  known. 
Some  twenty  years  later  Harriet  Martineau,  riding 
through  the  Territory,  charmed  by  the  luxuriant 
woods,  with  their  beautiful  openings,  and  the  wild 
flowers  scattered  in  profusion  by  the  roadside,  ex 
claimed  :  "  Milton  must  have  traveled  in  Michigan 
before  he  wrote  the  garden  parts  of  '  Paradise 
Lost.'  " 1  The  progress  of  the  State  was  slow,  but 
its  advance  was  due  to  the'  tireless  devotion  of  its 
second  territorial  governor. 

The  work  of  Governor  Cass  in  bringing  Michi 
gan  out  from  its  Gallic  sloth  was  coupled  with  the 
task  of  asserting  Northwestern  independence  and 
our  national  dignity  in  opposition  to  British  inter 
ference.  In  its  more  evident  form  this  arrogant 
intermeddling  with  our  concerns  ended  about  two 
years  after  the  war.  But  the  insidious  efforts  of 
the  English  authorities  to  render  insecure  the 
American  occupation  of  the  Northwest  continued 
with  more  or  less  heartiness  through  the  whole  of 
Cass's  governorship,  and,  indeed,  can  be  detected 
until  within  two  or  three  years  of  the  Ashburton 
treaty  of  1842.  In  case  of  another  war  with 
America,  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  States  border 
ing  upon  them  would  offer  special  inducement  for 
naval  and  military  movements.  An  idea  of  the 
mighty  growth  of  the  young  republic  permeated 
the  English  mind  but  slowly.  It  was  only  during 

1  Society  in  America,  vol.  i.  p.  325. 


100  LEWIS  CASS 

the  Eebellion  that  a  sense  of  our  power  was  first 
conveyed  to  the  average  Englishman  by  our  enor 
mous  armies  and  our  naval  enterprises.  In  conse 
quence  of  this  long  ignorance  and  contempt,  for 
years  after  the  Northwest  was  a  vigorous  and  well- 
settled  region,  the  English  cultivated  its  scattered 
tribes  of  Indians  with  remembrance  (indistinct,  it 
is  to  be  hoped)  of  the  character  of  their  services 
in  the  war  of  1812.  As  we  can  npw  look  back 
on  the  fruitlessness  of  such  efforts  and  notice  the 
steady  advance  of  the  pioneer  into  the  forests  and 
over  the  plains  of  the  West,  we  can  pass  the  fact 
by  with  a  shrug,  half  of  amusement  at  the  persist 
ence  of  our  fond  mother  country,  who  so  long 
yearned  for  her  wayward  child.  But  for  at  least 
ten  years  after  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  these  efforts 
were  far  from  amusing,  and,  while  the  "era  of 
good  feeling  "  was  casting  its  genial  warmth  upon 
the  Eastern  partisans,  the  Northwest  was  in  danger 
of  having  its  progress  retarded  by  hostile  Indians, 
whom  British  presents  incited  to  animosity  against 
the  Americans  and  won  to  loyalty  and  respect  for 
the  Union  Jack.  Had  a  war  with  England  broken 
out  before  1840,  in  all  likelihood  a  great  portion 
of  the  Indians  would  have  gone  where  British 
presents  and  brilliant  tinsel  called  them.  These 
dangers  Cass  fully  appreciated ;  and  the  insult  to 
American  independence  and  American  humanity 
he  deeply  resented.  So  keenly  did  he  feel  the 
injustice  and  perversity  of  England  that  he  never 
recovered  from  his  suspicions  of  her.  His  dislike 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    101 

of  her  aggrandizement  was  natural,  and,  under 
the  circumstances,  justifiable;  it  colored  his  whole 
public  career.  With  annoying  frequency,  through 
the  whole  of  his  governorship,  arose  these  evi 
dences  of  British  influence.  Nothing  but  his  own 
good  sense,  promptness,  and  bravery,  checked  the 
insolence  of  the  red  man  thus  encouraged  and 
abetted,  and  rendered  the  Northwest  habitable  and 
peaceful. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  our  general  historians 
that  England  entered  into  the  treaty  of  peace  of 
1783  with  the  hope  that  our  loose -knit  confederacy 
would  soon  burst  its  bonds  and  give  her  a  chance 
to  absorb  the  repentant,  disconsolate  States  singly; 
but  our  people  have  perhaps  not  realized  the  lon 
gevity  of  that  hope.  A  series  of  incidents,  which 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  in  chronological  con 
nection  with  the  other  events  of  Cass's  governor 
ship,  will  substantiate  the  general  statements  al 
ready  made. 

The  bold,  ill-concealed  interference  with  our 
affairs  and  the  projecting  of  British  authority  into 
our  territory  are  partly  attributable  to  the  reck 
lessness  of  local  authority,  partly,  it  must  be 
thought,  to  that  widespread  feeling  of  our  helpless 
ness,  which  prompted  adherence  to  the  search  and 
impressment  doctrine  long  after  the  war  of  1812. 
Vessels  were  stopped  and  searched  on  their  way 
to  Detroit  as  late  as  the  middle  of  1816.  Gover 
nor  Cass  collected  sworn  testimony,  and  transmit 
ted  it  to  Washington.  Expostulating  with  the 


102  LEWIS  CASS 

British  authorities,  he  insisted  that  the  conduct 
of  the  boarding  officers  was  arrogant  and  imperi 
ous,  and  that  such  actions  were  contrary  to  the 
law  of  nations  and  destructive  of  friendly  relations 
between  the  two  governments.  His  remonstrances 
apparently  stopped  these  open  violations  of  our 
rights  upon  the  Lakes. 

Before  this,  there  were  various  troubles  with 
the  soldiers  in  Canada.  A  series  of  letters 1  which 
passed  between  Governor  Cass  and  Colonel  James, 
in  command  of  the  forces  across  the  river,  discloses 
these  difficulties  and  the  unwarranted  attitude  as 
sumed  by  the  English.  The  ill  feeling  and  law 
lessness  of  the  Indians,  some  of  whom  still  re 
mained  in  Canada  and  received  sustenance  from 
the  public  stores,  were  continually  exhibited  in 
petty  acts  of  annoyance  and  in  deeds  of  violence, 
for  which  there  was  no  excuse.  The  agent  of  our 
government,  left  temporarily  in  charge  of  stores 
at  Amherstburg,  was  insulted  and  assaulted  by 
these  lawless  braves.  There  was  no  strong  reason 
for  not  sending  them  away  and  ceasing  to  recog 
nize  them  as  allies;  but  the  English  authorities, 
in  excuse,  pleaded  the  force  of  compassion  and  the 
difficulty  of  controlling  them.  On  the  other  side, 
it  cannot  truthfully  be  asserted  that  the  Americans 
were  always  courteous  and  honest.  The  stragglers 
in  a  disorganized  country,  demoralized  by  war, 
are  apt  to  cause  annoyances  to  a  hated  enemy  so 
temptingly  near  as  were  the  troops  and  people  in 

1  In  the  Archives  of  the  State  Department  at  Lansing. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    103 

Canada.  But  while  the  Indians  were  still  kept 
in  idleness  and  mischief  by  the  presents  from  the 
British,  Cass  was  authorized,1  May  25,  1815,  not 
to  give  the  Indians  presents,  inasmuch  as  the 
reason  for  doing  so  had  passed  away.  To  our 
former  enemies  the  necessities  appeared  quite  dif 
ferent. 

In  September,  1815,  nine  months  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  a  robbery  and  desertion  from  a  British 
man-of-war  gave  an  opportunity  for  an  offensive 
violation  of  our  sovereignty.  A  lieutenant  and 
boat's  crew,  sent  out  to  arrest  the  culprit,  sought 
him  on  American  soil.  They  prosecuted  the  search 
arrogantly,  entering  and  examining  several  houses, 
and  evidently  conducting  themselves  in  such  a 
domineering  spirit  that  the  citizens  were  aroused 
to  resistance.  One  resident  of  Detroit  at  the  time 
related  that  the  English  "placed  sentinels  on  our 
highway,  one  of  which  fired  at  a  citizen."2  The 
deserter  for  whom  they  were  searching  was  seized ; 
but  meanwhile  the  behavior  of  the  invading  party 
had  so  exasperated  the  citizens  that  they  flew  to 
arms,  and  turned  the  tables  upon  the  intruders  by 
arresting  the  lieutenant  and  conducting  him  with 
due  pomp  to  the  fort,  while  the  boat's  crew  hur 
ried  their  captive  on  board  their  vessel.  Colonel 
Miller  gave  up  jurisdiction  in  the  matter  to  Gov 
ernor  Cass,  as  the  head  of  the  civil  authority. 

1  Letter  to  Cass  from  War  Department,  Archives,  Lansing-. 

2  Niles,  vol.  ix.  p.  104.    Also  ibid.  p.  187.    Letters  in  State 
Department,  Lansing. 


104  LEWIS  CASS 

Commodore  Owen  demanded  the  return  of  the 
lieutenant.  Cass  answered  at  some  length.  With 
only  a  half -starved  Territory  at  his  back  he  knew 
how  to  resent  contempt  and  neglect  for  well-known 
principles  of  law. 

Lieutenant  Vidal  was  arrested  and  brought  to  me  for 
apprehending  forcibly  a  person  in  the  Territory  and 
conveying  him  on  board  a  British  armed  vessel.  In  so 
doing  he  has  violated  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  sub 
jected  himself  to  the  penalty  it  prescribes  for  such  con 
duct.  Permit  me  to  observe  that  your  demand  for  Lieu 
tenant  Vidal,  without  offering  to  restore  the  person  seized 
and  transported  by  him,  was  not  to  have  been  expected. 
There  are  no  treaty  stipulations  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  for  the  restoration  of  persons 
deserting  from  the  service  of  the  one  and  seeking  refuge 
in  the  territory  of  the  other.  Such  an  arrangement  was 
proposed  by  our  commissioners,  but  not  acceded  to.  The 
subject,  therefore,  rests  upon  the  general  principles  of 
international  law,  and  I  need  not  remind  you,  sir,  that 
that  law  gives  no  right  to  a  British  officer  to  enter  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  and  forcibly  transport 
thence  any  person,  whatever  may  be  his  description  or 
of  whatever  crime  he  may  be  accused.  .  .  .  But,  sir,  the 
subject  involves  considerations  of  greater  interest  than 
those  personally  affecting  the  offender.  An  armed  force 
in  the  service  of  her  Britannic  majesty  has  apprehended 
a  person  within  this  Territory.  ...  It  becomes,  there 
fore,  my  duty  to  request  of  you  his  immediate  return.1 

The  circumstances  under  which  this  intrusion 
had  taken  place  partly  extenuated  it;  but  it  was 

1  Letters  in  Archives  of  State  Department  of  Michigan. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    105 

a  transference  to  land  of  that  abominated  claim, 
that  deserters  from  English  ships  could  be  seized 
and  forced  back  to  their  allegiance,  a  claim  which, 
when  carried  out  with  exasperating  additions,  had 
inflamed  our  country,  and  driven  us  into  a  war 
for  the  defense  of  our  self-respect.  Cass  was 
determined  to  take  a  bold  stand  upon  principle. 
Vidal  was  imprisoned,  tried,  convicted,  and  fined. 
An  appeal  for  his  release  was  sent  to  Washington 
by  the  English  authorities.  Our  government  ex 
pressly  ratified  the  action  of  Governor  Cass ;  but, 
in  order  to  avoid  possible  complications  and  ill- 
feeling,  advised  the  return  of  the  money  received 
as  a  fine,  if  it  had  not  been  covered  into  the  trea 
sury.  The  advice  came  too  late.  The  hungry 
coffers  of  the  Territory  had  quickly  absorbed  such 
an  unexpected  addition  to  their  store.1 

Another  instance,  occurring  in  October,  1815, 
illustrates  more  clearly  the  desires  and  the  assump 
tion  of  the  British.  Colonel  James,  in  command 
at  Sandwich,  wrote  to  Cass,  complaining  that  an 
Indian  had  been  "murdered  under  most  aggrava 
ting  circumstances,  in  a  canoe  close  to  Grosse  Isle, 
by  a  shot  fired  from  an  American  boat."  "I  need 
not  point  out  to  you,"  said  the  choleric  colonel, 
"the  line  of  conduct  necessary  on  this  occasion. 
I  shall  direct  an  inquest  to  be  held  to-morrow 
morning,  and  I  beg  leave  to  remind  you  that  the 
murder  has  been  committed  on  the  body  of  an 
unoffending  Indian,  and  my  pointing  out  the  cus- 

1  Letters  in  Archives  of  State  Department  of  Michigan. 


106  LEWIS  CASS 

torn  of  the  savages  would  be  unnecessary  in  the 
present  instance." 

The  last  allusion,  a  petty  threat,  awakened  the 
ever-watchful  dignity  of  the  young  governor.  He 
informed  Colonel  James  that  he  would  make  in 
quiries.  "If  a  murder  has  been  committed  by 
American  citizens,  and  the  perpetrators  can  be 
detected,  they  will  suffer  the  punishment  which 
the  laws  of  civilized  nations  provide  for  the  of 
fense.  In  an  application  of  this  kind  it  was  un 
necessary  to  allude  to  the  Indian  custom  of  retali 
ating  upon  innocent  individuals  injuries  which  any 
of  their  tribe  may  have  received.  The  laws  of 
the  country  operate  with  rigid  impartiality  upon 
all  offenders,  and  confident  I  am  that  no  dread  of 
the  consequences  will  ever  induce  the  courts  of 
justice  to  punish  the  innocent  or  screen  the  guilty." 1 
An  examination  speedily  proved  that  the  Indian 
had  been  killed  not  only  in  self-defense,  but  on 
American  territory.  "The  event,"  wrote  Cass  to 
James,  "was  connected  with  the  predatory  system 
pursued  by  Indians  on  the  islands  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  and  which,  if  not  checked,  will  be 
attended  with  still  more  disastrous  consequences. 
The  Indian  was  killed  within  territorial  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  United  States,  and  a  British  officer 
has,  therefore,  no  right  to  ask,  nor  ought  an 
American  to  give  an  explanation."2 

In  connection  with  the  same  event  came  a  letter 

1  Letters  in  Archives  of  State  Department  of  Michigan. 

2  Rid. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    107 

from  James,  inclosing  one  from  a  British  Indian 
agent,  which  set  up  claims  made  by  the  Indians 
for  some  horses  stolen  from  them  by  the  Ameri 
cans.  Cass  answered  in  a  trenchant  letter  quietly, 
but  sharply,  asking  that  questions  which  did  not 
concern  Canadian  authority  or  jurisdiction  might 
be  left  out  of  consideration  by  over-zealous  offi 
cials.  "We  do  not  acknowledge  in  principle,  nor 
shall  we  ever  admit  in  practice,  the  right  of  any 
foreign  authority  to  interfere  in  any  arrangement 
or  discussion  between  us  and  the  Indians  living 
within  our  territory."  That  statement  was  the 
basis  for  the  work  of  his  whole  governorship.  His 
rights  and  duties  were  logically  presented,  —  should 
horses  be  stolen  in  Upper  Canada  and  brought 
upon  American  soil,  all  reasonable  efforts  would 
be  made  to  return,  them.  But  in  this  instance 
such  was  not  the  case.  "In  application  of  these 
principles,  I  have  only  to  observe  that  Stony 
Island,  whence  these  horses  were  stated  to  have 
been  taken,  is  in  this  Territory,  that  the  horses 
were  not  taken  from  there  to  Canada,  and  that 
a  British  officer  has  consequently  no  right  to 
make  a  claim  in  behalf  of  the  Indians  on  the  sub 
ject."1  This  application,  of  no  special  importance 
in  itself,  was  part  of  a  general  programme  for 
retaining  the  affection  and  dependence  of  the  In 
dian,  for  perpetuating  his  distrust  of  the  Ameri 
cans,  for  rendering  his  presence  in  the  Northwest 
a  menace  to  American  settlement,  and  for  giving 

1  Niles's  Register,  vol.  ix.  p.  242. 


108  LEWIS   CASS 

him  an  exalted  idea  of  the  friendship,  dignity, 
and  power  of  the  British  government.  On  Octo 
ber  18  there  issued  from  the  magistrate  of  the 
western  district  of  Canada  a  circular  announcing 
that  a  Kickapoo  Indian  had  been  "willfully  mur 
dered,"  and  offering  a  reward  of  five  hundred 
dollars  for  the  capture  of  the  perpetrators  of  the 
deed.  This  insidious  announcement,  shrewdly  cal 
culated  to  attract  the  Indians  and  possibly  in 
tended  to  induce  some  avaricious  Americans  to 
transport  their  fellow -citizens  to  Canada  for  pun 
ishment,  was  deeply  resented  by  Governor  Cass. 
He  at  once  published  a  stirring  counter-proclama 
tion,  stating  that  the  Indian  was  killed  on  Ameri 
can  soil,  that  the  affair  was  entirely  without  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  officious  magistrates,  and  that 
such  pretensions  were  unfounded  and  unjustifiable. 
He  called  upon  the  citizens  of  the  Territory  to 
repel  by  force  any  attempt  "to  apprehend  any 
person  on  the  west  side  of  the  middle  water  com 
munication  "  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Erie. 

A  letter  to  Secretary  Monroe  from  Cass,  in  ex 
planation  of  this  affair,  charges  that  such  difficul 
ties  were  due  to  the  "ungovernable  temper  of 
James  and  to  designs,  which  every  day  more  fully 
discloses,  of  using  every  incident  which  occurs  as 
a  means  of  acquiring  and  strengthening  their  in 
fluence  over  the  Indians.  .  .  .  On  the  other  side 
of  the  river  the  design  is  avowed  of  serving  their 
process  upon  any  part  of  the  river  or  upon  any 
islands  of  it.  The  tenor  and  the  object  of  their 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    109 

measures  is  to  teach  the  Indians  to  look  to  them 
selves  for  protection.  Much  sensation  is  thereby 
excited,  and  it  is  surprising  with  what  eager 
ness  they  gave  credit  to  the  report  that  the  British 
would  punish  the  man  who  killed  their  country 
man."1 

In  this  letter  he  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
dollars,  the  American  currency,  instead  of  pounds, 
were  offered  in  the  circular  as  a  reward,  with  the 
intent,  evidently,  of  influencing  persons  in  Ameri 
can  territory.  Even  more  explicitly  were  the  pre 
tensions  of  England  stated  by  Colonel  James  a 
few  days  after  this  controversy.  He  acknowledged 
the  receipt  of  the  stolen  horses,  which  had  been 
returned  through  the  generous  efforts  of  Cass, 
and  added  a  few  telling  words.  The  treaty  of 
Ghent,  he  asserted,  amply  provided  for  the  Indians 
who  had  been  in  alliance  with  Great  Britain; 
all  the  tribes,  even  those  whose  country  extended 
as  far  as  the  Mississippi  and  who  were  included 
in  the  treaty,  looked  to  the  English  for  a  ful 
fillment  of  an  "agreement  which  insured  to  them 
ingress  and  egress  through  all  parts  of  America, 
the  same  as  previous  to  the  year  1811. "2  The 
acts  of  the  British  Indian  agents  for  many  years 
after  this  speak  more  loudly  than  words  of  a 
design  to  protect  their  past  allies  and  to  keep 
a  guardian  hand  on  all,  as  far  west  as  the  Missis 
sippi. 

1  Letter  in  Archives  of  State  Department  of  Michigan. 

2  Letters  in  Archives  of  State  Department  of  Michigan- 


110  LEWIS  CASS 

The  patriotic  zeal  of  General  Cass  was  applauded 
in  the  East  as  his  deeds  of  bold  opposition  were 
recounted  in  the  papers.  But  few  have  gathered 
any  idea  of  the  continuance  of  this  trouble,  which 
presented  itself  in  its  most  virulent  form  in  the 
first  three  years  of  his  administration.  A  study 
of  the  Indian  treaties  which  he  negotiated  shows 
him  continually  trying  to  win  the  affection  and 
respect  of  many  who  were  inclined  to  believe  in 
the  power  and  generosity  of  the  British  govern 
ment.  The  radius  of  his  influence  was  constantly 
lengthening,  and  the  fear  and  respect  for  the  power 
which  he  represented  increased.  When  he  began 
his  governorship,  he  strove  to  overcome  Indian 
antipathy  in  the  very  neighborhood  of  Detroit. 
Twelve  years  later  in  northern  Wisconsin  and 
Minnesota  he  relieved  the  Indians  from  want,  and 
with  gentle  reproof  took  from  the  necks  of  theii' 
chieftains  their  British  medals,  and  placed  in  their 
stead  a  miniature  of  their  great  and  mighty  "Fa 
ther  at  Washington."  But  in  spite  of  the  widen 
ing  circle  of  successful  management,  he  cannot  be 
said  to  have  been  entirely  relieved  of  his  task  until 
he  left  the  Territory.  In  June,  1819,  George 
Boyd,  the  Indian  agent  at  Mackinaw,  wrote  to 
Cass:  "A  large  body  of  Indians  took  their  depar 
ture  hence  three  days  ago  for  Drummond's  Island 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving,  it  is  said,  large  dis 
bursements  of  Indian  presents  at  the  hand  of  the 
Duke  of  Richmond,  and  perhaps  with  a  view  to 
influence  their  attendance  on  the  treaty  about  to 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    111 

be  held  by  your  excellency  the  ensuing  fall  at 
Saginah."1  In  May,  1822,  the  same  agent  wrote 
again  011  this  interesting  question :  "  At  all  events, 
I  trust  that  the  stand  now  taken  by  the  govern 
ment  .  .  .  will  not  be  lightly  abandoned.  To 
temporize  with  them,  as  regards  their  intercourse 
with  the  British  posts,  will,  in  the  end,  prove  as 
injurious  to  them  as  it  will  be  disgraceful  to  us, 
and  I  see  no  better  time  to  draw  the  strong  line 
between  American  and  British  Indians  than  the 
present.  Whenever  I  shall  have  met  them  fully 
in  council,  the  result  shall  be  immediately  commu 
nicated  to  your  excellency."  2  Other  words  in  this 
letter  suggest  the  present  fear  of  English  influence, 
and  the  danger  that,  should  another  war  occur, 
the  Indians  would  be  attracted  to  our  open-handed 
enemies. 

One  or  two  other  facts  will  add  to  the  evidence 
of  British  intrigue  and  intrusion.  December  4, 
1823,  nearly  ten  years  after  Cass  had  been  ordered 
to  cease  furnishing  presents  to  the  tribes  lingering 
around  Detroit,  we  find  him  writing  to  Calhoun, 
the  secretary  of  war,  in  a  tone  not  of  the  utmost 
confidence,  and  as  if  the  troubles  were  well  known 
and  discouraging,  that  he  will  use  every  effort 
which  prudence  dictates  to  prevent  the  Indians 
from  passing  through  the  country  to  Maiden  to 
receive  gifts,  and  that  a  celebrated  half-breed  has 
just  gone  through  for  the  purpose  of  extending 

1  Boyd  Papers,  in  the  Library  of  Wisconsin  Historical  Society. 

2  Ibid. 


112  LEWIS  CASS 

British  influence  among  the  Indians.1  In  Septem 
ber,  1829,  Niles  quoted  from  the  Canadian  "Co 
lonial  Advocate"  the  statement  that  "about  sixty 
tons  of  Indian  presents  are  on  their  way  to  Am- 
herstburg  and  Drummond's  Island;  they  are  chiefly 
distributed  among  British  Indians,  but  great  num 
bers  of  Indians  from  the  United  States  territories 
also  partake.  Fifty  or  sixty  tons  more  of  presents 
are  on  their  way  up  the  Alciope.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  that  they  cost  the  British  government 
an  immense  sum  annually."  A  large  body  of  In 
dians  at  that  time  passed  through  northern  Ohio 
on  their  way  to  the  field  of  tinsel  and  brass.  The 
sage  Niles  remarks  mildly  that  this  "policy  of  the 
British  government  should  be  checked  by  prompt 
measures."  One  of  the  scenes  familiar  to  the 
people  of  Detroit,  the  remembrance  of  which  has 
not  yet  passed  away,  is  that  of  the  tippling,  ca 
rousing  red  men,  who,  loaded  with  knickknacks 
and  gewgaws  in  Canada,  came  across  the  river, 
and,  exchanging  what  of  their  treasures  they 
might  to  obtain  some  beloved  firewater,  held  their 
maudlin  encampment  on  the  attractive  camping 
ground  below  the  city. 

In  the  north,  near  the  head  of  Lake  Huron, 
these  gifts  were  made  to  American  Indians  as  late 
as  1839.  Had  the  Caroline  affair  brought  on 
the  war  which  at  one  time  seemed  imminent,  the 
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  might  have  done 
their  execution ;  or,  had  the  northeastern  boundary 

1  Archives,  Governor's  Office,  Lansing,  Michigan. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    113 

trouble  been  more  sanguinary  than  the  "battle  of 
the  maps,"  the  war-whoop  might  again  have  been 
heard  through  northern  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 
Without  presuming  to  cast  the  horoscope  of  a  hy 
pothetical  past,  one  may  insist  that  these  assertions 
have  more  than  a  visionary  foundation.  Mrs. 
Jameson,  in  her  "Winter  Studies  and  Summer 
Kambles  in  Canada,"  has  left  us  a  graphic,  art 
less,  and  interesting  picture  of  a  great  Indian 
council  held  upon  Great  Manitoulin  Island,  in 
which  the  policy  of  the  English  government  is  well 
presented.  She  prefaces  her  description  by  a  con 
fession  that  the  assembling  of  all  Indians  within 
British  territory  "who  are  our  allies  and  receive 
our  annual  presents  seems  reasonable  and  politic." 
By  this  time  it  was  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  to 
gather  the  Indians  together  from  the  northern 
part  of  the  United  States,  to  settle  them  in  British 
territory,  and  bind  them  to  British  allegiance  by 
annual  bestowal  of  gifts.  Can  this  be  charged  to 
sheer  philanthropy,  to  a  desire  to  take  the  poor 
red  man  from  our  jurisdiction,  and  to  lay  the  bur 
den  of  his  sustenance  upon  the  grumbling  taxpayer 
at  home,  to  a  willingness  to  increase  the  weight 
of  the  great  Indian  problem  to  the  British  and 
Canadian  governments? 

In  the  council  of  1837,  as  described  by  Mrs. 
Jameson,  the  Indians  were  informed  that  their 
"Great  Father  the  King"  would  continue  to  give 
presents  to  the  Indians  of  Canada,  but  that  only 
"for  three  years,  including  the  present  delivery," 


114  LEWIS  CASS 

should  the  tribes  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States  be  so  treated ;  the  United  States,  the  agent 
said,  justly  complained  against  this  policy,  which 
gave  "arms  and  ammunition  to  Indians  of  the 
United  States,  who  are  fighting  against  the  gov 
ernment  under  which  they  live;"  the  people  of 
England  grumbled  at  the  great  expense.  "But, 
children!"  he  continued,  "let  it  be  distinctly  un 
derstood  that  the  British  government  has  not  come 
to  the  determination  to  cease  to  give  presents  to 
the  Indians  of  the  United  States.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  government  of  your  Great  Father  will 
be  most  happy  to  do  so,  provided  they  live  in  the 
British  empire;  "*  the  giving  of  presents  to  those 
residing  without  the  jurisdiction  of  England  would 
"bring  on  war  between  your  Great  Father  and 
the  Long  Knives."  This  needs  no  interpretation. 
At  least  as  late  as  the  Ashburton  treaty  England 
had  on  our  northern  frontier  a  body  of  dependent 
allies,  a  band  of  savage  mercenaries  bought  by 
beads  and  calico,  ready  at  her  word  to  collect  in 
war-paint  and  feathers,  and  to  enter  upon  the 
dastardly  horrors  which  Michigan  had  learned  to 
fear.  It  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  Governor  Cass 
that  many  were  brought  to  fear  and  respect  him, 
and  that  so  many  were  turned  from  their  devotion 
to  the  implacable  mother  of  our  country. 

Observing  this  work  of  Governor  Cass  with  the 
Indians,  we  find  a  career  of  monotonous  responsi- 

1  Mrs.  Jameson's  Winter  Studies  and  Summer  Rambles  in  Can 
ada,  vol.  ii.  p.  289. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    115 

bility  broken  at  intervals  by  romantic  and  pictur 
esque  incidents.  Until  April,  1816,  Michigan  in 
cluded  all  the  land  east  of  a  line  drawn  through 
the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan  and  north  of  a  line 
drawn  from  the  southern  end  of  that  lake  eastward 
until  it  intersected  Lake  Erie.  In  1816  Indiana 
was  admitted  to  the  Union  with  a  slice  pared  from 
the  southwestern  portion  of  Michigan.  After 
April,  1818,  all  land  east  of  the  Mississippi  and 
north  of  the  northern  line  of  Illinois  was  under 
the  supervision  of  Governor  Cass.  For  the  re 
maining  years  of  his  governorship  he  had  control 
of  this  vast  region.  He  was  ex  officio  superintend 
ent  of  Indian  affairs  in  the  territory.  He  had, 
in  addition,  for  a  great  portion  of  the  time,  charge 
of  agencies  at  Chicago,  Fort  Wayne,  Piqua,  and 
other  sub-agencies.  In  the  capacity  of  special 
agent  and  commissioner  he  came  into  contact  with 
the  Indians  of  the  whole  Northwest.  He  entered 
into  a  score  of  treaties  of  such  importance,  and 
his  personal  influence  was  so  great,  that  there  is 
little  exaggeration  in  claiming  that  the  actual  pos 
session  of  the  Northwest  was  due  to  his  exertions. 
He  traveled  through  the  wilderness,  enduring  hard 
ship  and  fatigue,  everywhere  and  always  studying 
how  he  might  open  up  all  the  vast  region  for  peace 
ful  settlement,  how  he  might  win  the  red  man  to 
civilization  and  comfort.  He  was  the  first  white 
man  to  ride  over  the  Indian  trail  which  became 
the  great  highway  between  Detroit  and  Chicago. 
The  merry  voyacjeurs  carried  him  in  their  bark 


116  LEWIS  CASS 

canoes  over  the  lake  and  stream  until  the  North 
west,  with  its  resources  and  splendid  possibilities, 
was  familiar  to  him.  For  weeks  at  a  time  he  was 
absent  from  home  on  long  voyages,  accompanied 
by  one  or  two  companions  of  his  liking  and  by 
the  hardy  boatmen  whose  steady,  swinging  stroke 
carried  him  over  the  waves  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
It  is  still  remembered  how  the  ringing  boat-song 
would  awaken  the  little  village  on  his  return,  as 
the  long  canoe  came  flying  down  the  river,  and 
the  cheery  boatmen,  bending  to  their  work,  lifted 
their  voices  in  measured  cadences  of  weird  and 
fascinating  music. 

Duncan  Me  Arthur  was  appointed  in  1817  to 
cooperate  with  Cass  in  obtaining  land  in  northern 
Ohio  and  Indiana.  By  a  successful  treaty  this 
commission  acquired  for  settlement  a  great  deal 
of  land,  and  obtained  the  grant  of  three  sections 
for  the  "College  at  Detroit,"  a  gift  of  value,  after 
ward,  for  higher  education  in  Michigan.  The 
following  year  Cass  met  the  Indians  at  St.  Mary's, 
in  Ohio,  and  entered  into  a  fruitful  negotiation 
for  a  vast  stretch  of  territory.  At  Saginaw,  in 
1819,  a  large  portion  of  Michigan  was  secured, 
and  at  Chicago,  in  1821,  he  obtained  all  the  south 
western  part  of  the  State  of  Michigan,  south  of 
the  Grand  Kiver.  In  the  latter  part  of  Novem 
ber,  1819,  he  wrote  to  Secretary  Calhoun  for  au 
thority  to  make  an  extended  tour  along  the  south 
ern  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  thence  to  the  source 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  home  by  way  of  Prairie  du 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    117 

Chien  and  Green  Bay.  He  desired  to  investigate 
the  Indian  tribes,  to  induce  them  no  longer  to  go 
to  Canada  for  presents,  to  obtain  plots  of  ground 
at  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  and  other  places,  and  to 
investigate  the  mineral  resources  of  the  country, 
with  special  reference  to  copper,  which  was  re 
ported  to  exist  in  abundance.  "All  that  will  be 
required,"  he  said,  "is  an  ordinary  birch  bark 
canoe,  and  permission  to  employ  a  competent 
number  of  Canadian  boatmen."  He  suggested, 
in  addition,  an  "officer  of  engineers  to  make  a 
correct  chart,"  and  "some  person  acquainted  with 
zoology,  botany,  and  mineralogy."  The  plan  was 
received  favorably  at  Washington.  A  topographi 
cal  engineer  was  attached  to  the  expedition.  Mr. 
Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  was  selected  to  conduct  the 
scientific  researches,  and  has  left  an  account  of 
the  incidents  and  discoveries  of  the  journey  in  his 
book  entitled  "Discovery  of  the  Sources  of  the 
Mississippi  River." 

The  voyagers,  in  three  birch  canoes,  left  De 
troit,  May  24,  amid  the  shouts  and  acclamations 
of  the  people,  who  were  deeply  interested  in  the 
efforts  of  Governor  Cass.  Schoolcraft  gives  a 
vivid  description  of  the  strange  scene.  The  In 
dians,  who  had  been  secured  as  the  hunters  of 
the  expedition,  were  in  one  canoe,  vainly  striving 
to  pass  by  the  hardy  Canadians,  who,  in  their 
turn,  starting  their  familiar  boat-song,  began  their 
steady  strokes,  and  soon  gave  evidence  of  their 
firmer  muscle  and  more  enduring  nerve.  The  large 


118  LEWIS  CASS 

orchards  and  windmills,  and  the  quaint  houses 
lining  the  river  for  miles,  added  a  foreign  flavor. 
Skirting  the  storm -battered  shores  and  long- wind 
ing  beaches  of  Lake  Huron,  the  expedition,  after  a 
journey  of  more  than  three  hundred  miles,  came 
to  Mackinaw  on  June  6.  A  few  days  later  they 
reached  the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie,  where  it  was 
Cass's  intent  to  obtain  possession  of  a  piece  of 
ground  formerly  conveyed  to  the  French,  our  right 
to  which  the  Indians  had  acknowledged  in  various 
treaties. 

The  braves,  evidently  restless  and  out  of  humor, 
assembled  to  meet  the  Americans.  Arrayed  in 
their  best  attire,  and  many  of  them  adorned  with 
British  medals,  they  seated  themselves  with  even 
more  than  their  wonted  solemnity  and  dignity, 
and  prepared  to  hear  what  Governor  Cass  desired. 
At  first  pretending  not  to  know  of  any  French 
grants,  they  finally  intimated  that  our  government 
might  be  permitted  to  occupy  the  place  if  we  did 
not  use  it  as  a  military  station.  The  governor, 
perceiving  that  their  independence  and  boldness 
verged  on  impudence  and  menace,  answered  deci 
sively  that  as  surely  as  the  "rising  sun  would  set, 
so  surely  would  there  be  an  American  garrison 
sent  to  that  point,  whether  they  received  the  grant 
or  not."  The  excitement  which  had  been  ready 
to  break  forth  now  displayed  itself.  The  chiefs 
disputed  among  themselves,  some  evidently  coun 
seling  moderation,  others  favoring  hostilities.  A 
tall  and  stately-looking  chieftain,  dressed  in  a 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    119 

British  uniform  with  epaulets,  lost  patience  with 
moderation  and  delay.  Striking  his  spear  into 
the  ground,  he  drew  it  forth  again,  and,  kicking 
away  the  presents  that  lay  scattered  about,  strode 
in  high  dudgeon  out  of  the  assembly. 

The  Indian  camp  was  on  a  small  hill  a  few 
hundred  yards  from  that  of  the  Americans.  The 
dissatisfied  chiefs  went  directly  to  their  lodges, 
and  in  a  moment  a  British  flag  was  flying  in  the 
very  faces  of  the  little  company  of  white  men. 
The  soldiers  were  at  once  ordered  under  arms. 
Every  one  expected  an  immediate  attack,  for  the 
Indians,  greatly  outnumbering  the  Americans,  had 
not  disguised  their  insolence  and  contempt.  In 
an  instant  Governor  Cass  took  his  resolution. 
Rejecting  the  offers  of  those  who  volunteered  to 
accompany  him,  with  no  weapon  in  his  hands  and 
only  his  interpreter  beside  him,  he  walked  straight 
to  the  middle  of  the  Indian  camp,  tore  down  the 
British  flag,  and  trampled  it  under  his  feet.1 
Then  addressing  the  astonished  and  even  panic- 
stricken  braves,  he  warned  them  that  two  flags  of 
different  nations  could  not  fly  over  the  same  terri 
tory,  and  should  they  raise  any  but  the  American 
flag,  the  United  States  would  put  its  strong  foot 
upon  them  and  crush  them.  He  then  turned  upon 
his  heel  and  walked  back  to  his  own  tent,  carrying 
the  British  ensign  with  him.  An  hour  of  indeci 
sion  among  the  Indians  ensued.  Their  camp  was 
quickly  cleared  of  women  and  children,  an  indica- 

1  Trowbridge's  account,  Wisconsin  Historical  Collection. 


120  LEWIS  CASS 

tion  that  a  battle  was  in  immediate  prospect.  The 
Americans,  looking  to  their  guns,  listened  for  the 
war-whoop  and  awaited  attack.  But  the  intre 
pidity  of  Governor  Cass  had  struck  the  Indians 
with  amazement.  It  showed  a  rare  knowledge  of 
Indian  character,  of  which  his  own  companions 
had  not  dreamed.1  Subdued  by  the  boldness  and 
decision  of  this  action,  the  hostile  chiefs  forgot 
their  swaggering  confidence,  and  in  a  few  hours 
signed  the  treaty  which  had  been  offered  them. 
The  friends  of  Governor  Cass  who  witnessed  the 
scene  never  wearied  of  describing  it  and  of  com 
menting  on  his  bravery.  One  whose  knowledge 
of  Indian  character  was  almost  equal  to  that  of 
the  governor  was  wont  to  remark  that  for  fair, 
frank  courage  in  the  face  of  danger  this  action 
surpassed  all  others  he  had  ever  known.2  The 
habitual  courage  and  dignity  of  Governor  Cass, 
coupled  with  honesty  and  mercy,  won  from  the 
Indians  a  respect  and  even  love  for  their  "Great 
Father  at  Detroit,"  and  gradually  forced  westward 
and  northward  allegiance  to  Britain  and  undue 
respect  for  her  power. 

From  the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  the  party  skirted 
the  southern  shores  of  Lake  Superior  to  its  western 
end.  By  way  of  the  Fond  du  Lac  or  St.  Louis 
Kiver,  and  by  means  of  various  portages,  they 
reached  the  Mississippi,  and  proceeded  up  it  a 

1  Sehoolcraft's  Summary  Narrative,  etc.,  p.  80. 

2  Mr.  C.  C.  Trowbridge,  companion  and  secretary  of  the  gov- 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    121 

distance  estimated  at  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
to  what  was  known  as  Red  Cedar  Lake,  but  which 
Schoolcraft  011  his  map  and  in  his  report  named 
Cass  Lake,  in  token  of  the  "energy  and  enlight 
ened  zeal  of  the  gentleman  who  led  the  expedi 
tion."  Had  it  not  been  for  the  low  state  of  the 
water,  General  Cass  would  in  all  probability  have 
discovered  the  true  source  of  the  Mississippi  as 
early  as  1820.  From  this  point  the  company  pad 
dled  between  the  beautiful  banks  of  the  mighty 
river  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  thence  made  their 
way  across  Wisconsin  to  Green  Bay.  Here  Gen 
eral  Cass  caused  a  series  of  investigations  to  be 
conducted  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  the  truth 
or  falsity  of  the  theory  that  there  were  tides  in 
the  Great  Lakes  as  in  the  ocean.  Experiments 
seemed  to  prove  complete  irregularity  in  the  rise 
and  fall  of  the  water-fluctuations,  which  were  in 
all  probability  due  to  the  wind  and  the  currents 
of  the  lakes.  In  later  years  Cass  made  more 
extended  tests,  and  published  the  results  of  his 
studies.  At  Green  Bay  the  company  divided,  one 
part  going  north,  the  other,  including  the  gover 
nor,  to  Chicago,  whence  he  proceeded  overland  to 
Detroit  by  the  old  Indian  trail.  The  expedition 
had  been  a  most  successful  and  profitable  one. 
Mr.  Schoolcraft,  in  his  report  to  the  secretary  of 
war,  affirmed  that  the  mineral  resources  of  the 
country  were  great,  and  called  special  attention 
to  the  indications  of  wonderful  copper  and  iron 
deposits.  The  Indians  were  visited,  and  given 


122  LEWIS  CASS 

an  object  lesson  in  the  daring  and  resolution  of 
the  Americans.  The  topography  of  the  country, 
described  with  some  detail,  furnished  basis  for 
further  explorations  and  induced  greater  immigra 
tions. 

During  these  years  the  internal  political  affairs 
of  the  Territory  were  not  neglected  by  Governor 
Cass.  When  he  came  into  office,  the  first  system 
of  government  established  under  the  Ordinance  of 
1787  was  in  vogue.  The  governor  and  judges 
were  omnipotent,  save  as  they  were  restrained  by 
the  general  terms  of  their  fundamental  charter. 
The  citizens  had  taken  no  interest  in  the  manage 
ment  of  the  Territory.  The  habitant  could  not 
conceive  of  the  necessity  or  the  pleasure  of  inter 
ference  with  the  divine  right  of  government.  But 
their  new  governor  intended  that  democratic  prin 
ciples  should  hold  sway  as  widely  as  possible  under 
his  guidance.  The  people  were  tempted  into  self- 
government.  The  laws  were  codified  and  pub 
lished,  and,  so  arranged,  have  since  been  known 
as  the  "Cass  Code."  Counties  were  laid  out  as 
rapidly  as  convenience  directed.  As  the  Ameri 
cans  came  into  the  Territory  in  greater  numbers, 
the  governor  allowed  the  settlers  of  each  locality 
to  suggest  names  of  persons  to  be  appointed  to 
local  offices,  and  thus  practically  deprived  himself 
of  a  prerogative  which  he  might  have  used  for  his 
own  ends.  He  adhered  with  tenacity  to  the  doc 
trine  that  the  people  should  have  a  direct  voice  in 
appointments  and  in  other  political  affairs  in  the 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    123 

Territory.  In  the  spring  of  1818,  the  people  were 
invited  to  decide  by  a  general  vote  whether  or  not 
to  proceed  to  the  semi-representative  government 
permitted  by  the  Ordinance.  But  the  lethargic 
French  and  others,  who  appreciated  the  good  they 
had,  voted  against  change.  For  five  years  the 
governor  and  judges  retained  their  autocratic  posi 
tion,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  second  form 
was  established;  a  council  of  nine  came  into  exist 
ence,  the  members  of  which  were  selected  by  the 
President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate  from  eigh 
teen  names  presented  as  the  choice  of  the  people. 
In  1819  the  right  to  elect  a  delegate  to  Congress 
was  granted.  In  1825  thirteen  councilmen  were 
allowed,  and  in  1827  the  people  chose  the  whole 
number.  The  judicial  system  was  gradually  elabo 
rated  to  meet  the  growing  needs  of  the  Territory. 

The  industrial  condition  of  the  Territory  rapidly 
improved  after  1818.  Cass,  appreciating  the  needs 
of  the  people,  urged  upon  Congress  the  building 
of  a  road  around  the  end  of  Lake  Erie,  as  a  high 
way  for  commerce  and  an  actual  necessity  for 
military  movements  in  case  of  war.  National  aid 
was  secured.  A  portion  of  the  small  resources 
of  the  Territory  was  appropriated  for  making  a 
suitable  wagon  road  to  Chicago.  The  stagnant 
province,  even  before  1820,  took  new  life,  showing 
by  the  census  a  marked  increase  in  population. 
Before  1830  the  barren  waste,  Michigan,  was  act 
ually  exporting  flour  to  the  East,  and  there  was 
an  air  of  comfort  on  her  borders  and  an  appear- 


124  .       LEWIS  CASS 

ance  of  thrift  along  her  inland  roads,  which  spoke 
of  the  success  of  Governor  Cass's  efforts  to  attract 
eastern  knowledge  and  energy.  By  the  third  census 
of  the  century  Michigan  was  shown  to  have  over 
30,000  people,  and  to  have  just  claims  for  speedy 
admittance  as  a  State.  The  little  frontier  settle 
ments  which  Governor  Cass  was  summoned  to  de 
fend  in  1813  "had  extended  and  spread  to  the 
dimensions  of  a  commonwealth  under  his  judicious 
and  statesmanlike  care  and  nurture."1  The  set 
tlers  in  Michigan  were  from  New  York  and  Mas 
sachusetts.  Many  of  those  from  the  former  State 
had  previously  lived  in  New  England.  In  conse 
quence,  the  political  spirit  which  was  being  breathed 
into  the  nostrils  of  Michigan  was  the  spirit  of  local 
self-government  in  church  and  state,  and  in  many 
crises  of  our  history  she  has  given  evidence  of  her 
parentage.  Cass  encouraged  in  every  way  the 
growth  of  political  feeling  among  the  people.  He 
was  a  "democrat  by  conviction,  and  not  merely  in 
a  party  sense."2  "In  proportion  as  all  govern 
ments  recede  from  the  people,  they  become  liable 
to  abuse.  Whatever  authority  can  be  conveniently 
exercised  in  primary  assemblies  may  be  deposited 
there  with  safety."  3  This  was  his  published  creed. 
Intellectually  and  socially  the  Territory  made 
advances.  Governor  Cass  extended  his  democracy 
from  politics  to  learning.  Appreciating  that  reli- 

1  Michigan,  by  Thomas  Mclntyre  Cooley,  p.  203. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  205. 

8  Journal  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  Michigan,  1826. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    125 

gion,  morality,  and  knowledge  were  "necessary  to 
good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind," 
he  assisted  the  church  and  gave  his  public  encour 
agement  to  the  school.  The  percentage  of  illiter 
acy  in  Michigan  was  very  large  in  its  early  years 
as  an  American  province ;  but  in  accordance  with 
the  comprehensive  suggestion  of  Governor  Cass, 
a  broad  and  generous  basis  for  public  education 
was  established,  on  which  has  been  reared  a  school 
system  which  has  become  the  model  for  the  newer 
States  of  the  West,  and  stands  to-day  as  the  most 
perfect  embodiment  of  popular  American  educa 
tion  in  our  country.  The  foundation  for  this 
structure  bears  marks  of  the  broad  sympathetic 
democracy  of  General  Cass.  He  was  a  Jefferson- 
ian  in  all  that  related  to  education,  and  used  his 
influence  for  popularizing  the  school-book  and  the 
ballot. 

"Of  all  purposes,"  he  declared,  "to  which  a 
revenue  derived  from  the  people  can  be  applied 
under  a  government  emanating  from  the  people, 
there  is  none  more  interesting  in  itself,  nor  more 
important  in  its  effects,  than  the  maintenance  of 
a  public  and  general  course  of  moral  and  mental 
discipline.  .  .  .  Many  republics  have  preceded  us 
in  the  progress  of  human  society;  but  they  have 
disappeared,  leaving  behind  them  little  besides 
the  history  of  their  follies  and  dissensions  to  serve 
as  a  warning  to  their  successors  in  the  career  of 
self-government.  Unless  the  foundation  of  such 
governments  is  laid  in  the  virtue  and  intelligence 


126  LEWIS  CASS 

of  the  community,  they  must  be  swept  away  by 
the  first  commotion  to  which  political  circumstances 
may  give  birth.  Whenever  education  is  diffused 
among  the  people  generally,  they  will  appreciate 
the  value  of  free  institutions;  and  as  they  have 
the  power,  so  must  they  have  the  will  to  maintain 
them.  It  appears  to  me  that  a  plan  may  be  de 
vised  which  will  not  press  too  heavily  upon  the 
means  of  the  country,  and  which  will  insure  a 
competent  portion  of  education  to  all  youth  in  the 
Territory."  1  Such  views  as  these  were  in  advance 
of  the  thinking  of  the  time.  Platitudes  upon  en 
lightenment  and  liberty  grew  in  plenty ;  but  these 
practical  propositions  of  Governor  Cass  mark  an 
era  in  the  history  of  Michigan  and  of  popular 
education  in  the  United  States. 

In  Indian  affairs  Cass  was  not  idle  in  the  decade 
between  1820  and  1830.  The  treaty  of  Chicago 
has  already  been  mentioned  and  its  importance 
suggested.  Other  negotiations  were  soon  under 
taken.  For  a  long  time  the  constant  warfare  be 
tween  the  Sacs,  Foxes,  Sioux,  and  other  tribes  in 
the  West,  had  given  vexation  to  the  general  gov 
ernment  and  endangered  the  peace  of  the  frontier. 
In  company  with  Governor  Clark  of  Missouri, 
Cass  met  the  Indians  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in 
August,  1825,  and  secured  a  treaty  determining 
boundaries  and  promising  peace.  The  following 
year,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Thomas  L.  Mc- 

1  Journal  of  Legislative  Council  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan, 

1826. 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    127 

Kenney,  he  journeyed  to  Fond  du  Lac,  and  en 
tered  there  into  negotiations  with  the  Chippewas 
for  peace  with  the  other  tribes.  The  Indians  were 
encouraged  by  direct  aid  to  lead  civilized  lives, 
money  was  promised  them  for  a  school,  and  the 
United  States  was  granted  permission  to  search 
for  minerals  throughout  the  North.  Colonel  Mc- 
Kenney's  "Tour  to  the  Lakes"1  contains  the  inci 
dents  of  the  journey,  related  in  the  charming,  ro 
mantic,  personal  style  of  fifty  years  ago.  Other 
treaties  were  obtained  this  year  by  the  governor 
in  the  more  southern  portion  of  the  Northwest. 

It  was  necessary  to  make  still  further  arrange 
ments  for  determining  definite  boundaries  between 
the  tribes  in  the  West.  In  the  summer  of  1827 
General  Cass  was  absent  from  Detroit  for  two 
months,  engaged  in  one  of  the  most  important 
and  perilous  of  his  undertakings.  Proceeding  to 
Green  Bay,  with  Colonel  McKenney  as  associate 
commissioner,  he  found  that  the  Winnebagoes, 
whom  he  had  expected  to  meet  with  the  other 
tribes,  were  not  there.  Rumors  that  they  had 
put  on  the  war  paint  were  in  the  air,  and  Cass  de 
termined  as  usual  upon  crushing  out  hostilities  by 
prompt  and  decisive  action.  He  neither  delayed 
nor  sent  a  messenger.  He  manned  his  canoe, 
and  made  his  way  up  the  Fox  and  down  the 
Wisconsin  rivers,  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
the  actual  condition  of  things  and  of  communica 
ting  with  the  forces  at  St.  Louis  by  the  quickest 
1  Baltimore,  1827. 


128  LEWIS  CASS 

possible  method.  On  his  way  down  the  Wiscon 
sin  he  landed  boldly  at  a  Winnebago  village. 
There  were  indications  of  hostile  movements.  He 
remonstrated  with  the  chiefs  and  warned  them  of 
the  results  of  war.  As  he  turned  to  leave,  a 
young  brave  aimed  his  gun  at  him  and  pulled  the 
trigger.  The  gun  missed  fire,  however,  and  his 
life  was  saved.  The  older  chiefs,  realizing  what 
the  death  of  Governor  Cass  would  involve,  seized 
the  offender  and  soundly  upbraided  him;  but 
smouldering  discontent  was  evident.  The  canoe 
hurried  on  its  journey  to  the  south  and  west. 
Evidences  of  war  became  more  clear.  The  citizens 
of  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  momentary  dread  of  at 
tack,  had  crowded  together  and  hastily  thrown  up 
some  rude  defenses.  Alarm,  consternation,  and 
confusion  appeared  throughout  the  mining  district 
of  northern  Illinois;  the  roads  were  lined  with  the 
frantic  and  fleeing  people  who  had  dared  to  enter 
the  wilderness  in  the  delirium  of  the  lead  fever  of 
1826-27.  The  little  village  of  Galena  was  filled 
with  the  settlers  of  the  outlying  districts,  and 
overwhelmed  by  disorder  and  panic.  Governor 
Cass  quickly  organized  the  people  for  defense  at 
Prairie  du  Chien;  brought  confidence  to  Galena 
by  his  energy  and  decision;  collected  volunteers 
at  the  latter  place,  and  sent  troops  immediately 
up  the  river  where  there  was  more  actual  danger. 
He  then  hastened  on  to  St.  Louis  to  confer  with 
General  Atkinson,  who  at  once  moved  northward 
with  a  force  sufficient  to  overawe  the  Indians, 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    129 

who,  finding  themselves  overtaken  in  their  designs, 
abandoned  their  hostile  purposes  with  ill-concealed 
chagrin.  The  promptness  of  the  governor's  action 
prevented  a  devastating  war  over  the  whole  north 
western  frontier.  He  returned  to  Green  Bay,  by 
way  of  Chicago,  and  completed  the  negotiations 
he  had  intended  to  conduct.  The  incidents  of  his 
flying  trip  to  St.  Louis,  the  light  canoe  flitting 
through  the  dark  night  down  the  Mississippi,  the 
silence,  the  wildness  of  the  scenery,  the  intense  ex 
citement  and  anxiety  lest  his  efforts  should  be  too 
late,  made  the  deepest  impression  upon  his  own 
imagination  and  memory.  Years  after,  in  the 
palace  of  St.  Cloud,  the  scene  came  back  to  him 
with  all  its  vividness,  and  he  compared  the  timid 
Seine  with  the  mighty  Mississippi  and  the  even 
more  mighty  Missouri,  remembering  how  he  was 
whirled  along  through  the  night  on  a  race  for 
peace  and  the  lives  of  his  people.1 

During  these  latter  years  he  had  opportunity 
for  literary  work  and  for  a  more  general  interest 
in  politics.  He  was  summoned  to  cooperate  with 
Governor  Clark  in  outlining  for  the  government  a 
plan  for  the  treatment  of  the  Indians  and  for  the 
rearrangement  of  the  concerns  of  the  Indian  depart 
ment.  The  Territory,  now  independent  and  eager 
for  advancement,  appreciated  his  work  and  honored 
him.  In  1831  he  was  called  to  leave  his  tasks  in 
the  Northwest  and  to  take  his  part  in  the  broader 
fields  of  national  politics  and  .administration. 
1  Three  Hoars  at  St.  Cloud,  by  an  American  (L.  Cass). 


130  LEWIS  CASS 

The  great  factor  in  his  successful  administration 
was  honesty.  That  there  was  scrupulous  honesty 
in  the  business  of  the  Territory  needs  no  proof. 
But  fair,  honorable  dealing  with  the  Indians  was 
a  rarer  virtue,  and  in  this  he  never  faltered.  He 
was  wont  to  say  in  after  years  that  he  never  broke 
his  word  to  an  Indian  and  never  expected  to  find 
that  the  red  man  had  broken  his.  Every  exertion 
was  made  to  have  the  funds  and  the  allowances 
ready  on  the  day  upon  which  they  had  been  pro 
mised.  Promptness  and  boldness  in  action,  a  firm 
self-reliance,  a  presumption  that  the  power  of  the 
United  States  was  mighty  and  would  be  obeyed, 
appealed  to  the  Indian  sense  of  awe  and  reverence. 
Treaties  were  negotiated  with  fairness,  and  he 
warned  the  general  government  that  if  benignant 
peace  was  to  smile  upon  the  Northwest,  the  letter 
of  the  agreement  must  be  fulfilled.  He  did  not 
seek  to  secure  the  greatest  possible  advantage  in 
the  present  without  looking  to  the  future  or  with 
out  considering  the  equities  of  the  case.  He  in 
formed  the  department  at  Washington  that  neither 
justice  nor  the  policy  of  far-seeing  wisdom  would 
prompt  him  or  them  to  take  advantage  of  tempo 
rary  wants  and  sufferings.  He  not  only  strove  to 
carry  out  every  promise  or  understanding  with  an 
Indian  in  the  most  liberal  fashion,  but  he  included 
in  his  treaties  plans  for  the  betterment  of  the  race 
and  for  attracting  them  to  peace  and  civilization. 
Their  beloved  fire-water  was  the  Indians'  curse. 
He  took  every  available  opportunity  to  induce 


GOVERNOR  OF  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY    131 

them  to  give  up  its  use.  At  Prairie  du  Chien  he 
addressed  the  assembled  braves  on  the  sin  and 
folly  of  drunkenness,  and  to  point  his  moral  by 
showing  that  stinginess  was  not  actuating  him, 
he  broke  in  the  heads  of  several  casks  and  allowed 
the  liquor  to  rush  out  upon  the  ground  amid  the 
despairing  cries  of  the  thirsty  warriors.  His  keen 
eye  was  ever  on  the  watch  for  those  who  were 
seeking  to  violate  the  law,  cheat  the  childish  red 
man,  and  give  him  the  cursed  drink. 

The  respect  and  even  affection  which  the  In 
dians  had  for  their  "Great  Father  at  Detroit"  was 
often  manifested,  and  once  felt  was  not  forgotten. 
Twenty -five  years  after  his  governorship  was  ended, 
he  came  unexpectedly  into  a  meeting  of  Indian 
chiefs  in  Detroit;  in  a  moment,  forgetting  the 
object  of  their  conference  and  losing  their  stoical 
dignity,  they  crowded  around  him  to  grasp  the 
hand  from  which  they  had  received  so  many  fa 
vors.1  For  he  had  always  stood  ready  to  help 
them  and  to  treat  them  with  kindness.  During" 

O 

many  years  after  the  war,  when  they  had  once 
been  brought  into  subjection,  they  were  continu 
ally  in  Detroit,  often  with  frank  curiosity  or  open 
friendship  making  their  way  unannounced  into 
his  house,  and  expecting  to  be  met  with  courtesy. 
They  made  large  and  unexpected  demands  upon 
a  generous  hospitality;  for  the  British  across  the 
river  would  often  welcome  the  chiefs  to  their  tables, 
and  it  would  not  do  for  the  governor,  who  appreci- 
1  Smith,  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass,  p.  115. 


132  LEWIS  CASS 

ated  their  sensitive  natures,  to  rebuff  them  openly. 
His  tact,  careful  study  of  Indian  nature,  his  punc 
tilious  respect  for  his  word,  his  dignity,  his  kind 
ness,  all  display  themselves  in  brilliant  contrast 
with  many  of  the  brutal  dishonesties  which  have 
given  "Ramona"  and  such  sentimentality  more 
than  a  fanciful  foundation. 


CHAPTER   V 

SECRETARY   OF   WAR 

THE  dissolution  of  President  Jackson's  first  cabi 
net  occasioned  great  excitement  throughout  the 
country.  It  was  considered  high-handed  and  au 
tocratic.  Former  presidents  had  retained  their 
cabinet  officers,  except  when  necessity  dictated  a 
change,  and  only  in  the  case  of  the  elder  Adams 
had  there  been  anything  like  a  sudden  reorganiza 
tion  after  the  administration  had  fairly  begun. 
This  reconstruction,  however,  was  arranged  with 
some  skill,  with  something  of  the  deftness  that 
might  be  expected  where  the  shrewd  Van  Buren 
was  concerned  —  so  deftly,  indeed,  that  it  was  not 
at  first  evident  why  the  resignations  were  given 
or  what  was  the  animus  of  the  whole  affair.  In 
fact,  two  causes  cooperated.  The  President  dis 
covered,  by  a  disclosure  from  the  piqued  Craw 
ford,  that  Calhoun,  to  whose  interests  part  of  the 
cabinet  was  devoted,  had  some  twelve  years  before 
been  in  favor  of  punishing  him  for  his  conduct  in 
the  Seminole  difficulty,  and  for  his  unwarranted 
proceedings  in  Florida.  Jackson  never  forgave. 
From  this  time  forth  Calhoun  was  his  enemy. 
The  general's  mind  was  so  constituted  that  no  one 


134  LEWIS  CASS 

could  occupy  middle  ground ;  whoever  was  not  for 
him  was  against  him.  Those  in  the  cabinet  who 
could  consider  with  any  degree  of  complacency  the 
probable  succession  of  the  Carolinian  to  the  presi 
dency  were,  in  his  view,  unfit  to  be  his  advisers, 
and  absolutely  incapable  of  fair  and  honorable 
service.  The  warrior  President  was  in  a  contin 
ual  contest  with  persons.  Persons'  principles, 
not  principles  per  se,  always  filled  the  lens  of  his 
vision.  The  cabinet  ministers  devoted  to  Calhoun 
were  therefore  regarded  by  Jackson  not  only  as 
personal  enemies,  but  as  hostile  to  his  administra 
tion. 

But,  possibly,  a  much  more  trivial  and  absurd 
reason  had  even  greater  influence  in  bringing 
about  the  transformation.  The  President,  with 
all  the  energy  of  an  old  Indian  fighter,  espoused 
the  cause  of  Mrs.  Eaton,  the  wife  of  his  secretary 
of  war,  and  insisted  that  she  should  be  received 
within  the  charmed  circle  of  Washington  society. 
The  victor  of  New  Orleans  discovered,  however, 
that  mere  forcible  denunciation  would  not  pene 
trate  into  the  holy  precincts  or  break  down  the 
strong  barriers  of  social  prejudice.  Mrs.  Cal 
houn,  with  quiet  determination,  refused  to  meet 
Mrs.  Eaton  or  to  recognize  her  as  an  equal,  and 
declined  to  be  commanded  in  her  social  intercourse 
by  mandates  from  the  White  House.  The  wives 
of  several  members  of  the  cabinet  as  quietly  and 
firmly  upheld  their  independence,  while  Van  Buren, 
the  courtly  widower,  ingratiated  himself  with  the 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  135 

President  by  bestowing  on  the  social  outcast  his 
sweetest  smiles  and  studied  attentions.  It  is  a 
curious  commentary  on  the  dignity  of  free  govern 
ment  that,  by  careful  politeness  to  a  woman,  to 
whose  skirts  still  clung  the  dust  of  an  ambiguous 
past,  the  secretary  of  state  was  enabled  to  become 
the  recognized  heir-apparent  of  a  great  popular 
hero,  who,  as  the  "tribune"  of  the  common  peo 
ple,  had  begun  a  "reign  "  of  arrogance  and  anger. 
Jackson  was  incapable  of  discerning  the  relative 
importance  of  things.  He  lived  on  a  dead  level 
of  intensity ;  every  matter  which  enlisted  his  sym 
pathies  or  aroused  his  attention  was  of  tragic  im 
port.  He  fought  "Peggy"  Eaton's  battles  with 
the  same  Kurning  vigor  he  had  used  against  the 
British  at  New  Orleans  or  the  Spaniards  and  In 
dians  of  Florida.  He  threatened  to  send  home 
the  minister  from  Holland  "and  his  wife,"  because 
the  Dutch  dame  had  treated  his  secretary's  wife 
with  scant  courtesy,  by  refusing  to  sit  by  her  at 
the  ball  given  by  the  Russian  minister.  He  swore 
that  justice  must  be  done,  acted  the  "roaring 
lion,"  and  intimated,  through  the  medium  of  Colo 
nel  Johnson,  that  at  least  when  large  parties  were 
given,  Mrs.  Eaton  must  be  invited,  if  the  cabinet 
was  to  retain  its  present  composition;  he  would 
"be  cut  into  inch  pieces  on  the  rack"  before  he 
would  allow  either  Major  Eaton  or  his  wife  to  be 
injured  by  vile  calumnies;  for  the  woman  was 
pure  and  innocent  as  a  babe,  and  he  would  show 


136  LEWIS  CASS 

foreign  ministers  and  cabinet  officers  that  persecu 
tion  and  conspiracy  would  not  be  tolerated.1 

Early  in  1831  a  reorganization  of  the  cabinet  was 
determined  upon ;  for  the  Eaton  difficulty  was  much 
too  stimulating  to  the  presidential  temper,  and 
Calhoun's  hopes  of  the  succession  must  be  crushed 
by  depriving  of  public  office  and  influence  those 
who  might  favor  him.  As  early  as  1829  the  canny 
ones  among  the  politicians  had  begun  intrigues 
in  favor  of  the  secretary  of  state,  and  he  himself 
had  by  this  time  taken  Jackson's  heart  by  storm. 
His  assiduous  attentions  to  Mrs.  Eaton,  his  defer 
ence  and  continual  kindness  were  of  much  more 
value  than  even  his  considerable  ability  in  states 
manship.  His  coolness  and  calmness,  his  quiet 
and  affable  manners,  the  unruffled  composure  with 
which  he  smiled  at  the  important  trivialities  which 
vexed  the  irritable  general,  endeared  him  to  the 
old  warrior,  whose  nerves  were  quieted  by  the 
secretary's  soothing  presence.  It  was  impossible 
to  rave  and  pace  the  floor  and  invoke  anything 
"eternal"  or  transient  while  this  placid  gentleman 
was  sitting  by  in  serene  silence.  Eaton  resigned 
April  7,  1831.  Van  Buren  followed  on  April  11, 
with  a  letter  admirably  adapted  to  conceal  the 
real  reason  for  his  withdrawal,  while  it  set  forth 
modestly  the  fact  of  his  own  future  candidacy  for 
the  presidency,  which  "disturbing  topic"  he  had 
in  vain  attempted  to  "discountenance."2  Barry, 

1  Niles's  Register,  vol.  xl.  p.  377  ff. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  xl.  p.  43. 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  137 

the  postmaster-general,  was  asked  to  remain.  The 
other  three,  who  were  known  as  "Calhoun  men," 
were  not  in  the  best  of  humor,  and  did  not  appre 
ciate  Van  Buren's  suggestion  that  the  cabinet 
should  be  a  unit.  Ingham,  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  and  Branch,  the  secretary  of  the  navy, 
tendered  their  resignations  on  the  19th,  but  they 
made  at  the  same  time  the  distinct  statement  that 
they  understood  at  last  that  their  presence  in  the 
cabinet  was  no  longer  desired.  Berrien  retired 
from  the  office  of  attorney-general  on  June  15 
with  a  similar  announcement.  The  newspapers 
of  the  day  teemed  with  abuse  and  recrimination. 
Ingham  asserted  that  Eaton  had  formed  a  conspi 
racy  to  murder  him.  Eaton  accused  Ingham  of 
wanton  insult,  and  finally  demanded  "satisfac 
tion."  The  affairs  of  the  Eaton  family  were  pre 
sented  for  general  inspection,  and  a  most  savory 
ragbag  of  old  scandal  was  opened  for  the  gratifica 
tion  of  a  keen-scented  public. 

The  new  cabinet  was  a  very  able  one.  It  could 
be  counted  on  as  opposed  to  Calhoun  and  devoted 
to  Jackson  and  his  heir-apparent.  Undoubtedly 
the  President  profited  by  the  change.  Edward 
Livingston  of  Louisiana  became  secretary  of  state ; 
Louis  McLane  of  Delaware,  secretary  of  the  trea 
sury;  Levi  Woodbury  of  New  Hampshire,  secre 
tary  of  the  navy ;  Eoger  B.  Taney  of  Maryland, 
attorney -general.  Barry  retained  his  position  as 
postmaster-general  until  1835,  when  he  became 
minister  to  Spain,  and  was  succeeded  by  Amos 


138  LEWIS  CASS 

Kendall,  who,  holding  the  position  of  fourth  audi 
tor,  had  been  an  adviser  in  the  "kitchen  cabinet" 
from  the  beginning  of  the  administration.  It  was 
intended  that  Judge  White,  senator  from  Tennes 
see,  should  become  secretary  of  war,  and  give 
Eaton  a  chance  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  Senate. 
But  White  refused,  and  Cass  was  offered  the  port 
folio.  Kumor  assigned  the  ex-secretary  to  Michi 
gan  to  take  Cass's  place,  but  he  was  finally  ap 
pointed  governor  of  Florida,  and  went  to  seek 
consolation  for  abuse  and  insult  in  the  everglades 
of  that  wild  Territory.  In  August,  1831,  there 
fore,  Cass  assumed  the  duties  of  secretary  of  war. 
National  politics  were  in  a  peculiar  condition. 
Though  he  had  lost  no  opportunity  to  keep  him 
self  informed  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  higher 
governmental  circles,  he  could  not  have  anticipated 
the  conditions  which  he  discovered. .  We  are  but 
just  coming  to  an  appreciation  of  what  this  period 
signifies  in  our  development  as  a  constitutional 
state.  It  meant  that  national  politics  and  methods 
were  mob  politics  and  methods.  The  trickster 
politicians  who  had  been  turning  thumb-screws 
and  pulling  wires  for  thirty  years  in  the  States 
now  transferred  their  machinery  to  a  broader  field. 
Jackson  was  not  a  demagogue.  He  sincerely  be 
lieved  in  the  doctrines  he  preached  and  in  the 
sentiments  which  he  put  into  practice.  But  he 
was  the  conduit  pipe  through  which  flowed  into 
the  field  of  national  administration  the  tide  of 
political  proscription,  intrigue,  and  legerdemain 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  139 

which  had  been  long  triumphantly  deluging  the 
States.  Van  Buren  has  been  charged  with  intro 
ducing  the  "spoils  system  "  from  New  York,  where 
from  the  beginning  of  the  century  removal  from 
office  followed  change  in  party  control,  as  night 
follows  day.  But  the  fact  is  that  the  virus  was 
well  on  its  festering  way  in  the  national  system 
before  Van  Buren 's  responsibility  began.  Al 
though  the  "Little  Magician"  must  have  aided 
by  his  counsel  and  given  the  benefit  of  his  expe 
rience,  no  one  man  can  be  charged  with  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  practice  of  spoils  distribution.  It 
came  by  natural  evolution.  The  scrambling,  punch- 
drinking  mob  which  invaded  Washington  at  Jack 
son's  inauguration,  besieging  his  hotel,  crowding 
and  pushing  their  way  into  the  White  House,  tip 
ping  over  tubs  of  punch  and  buckets  of  ices,  stand 
ing  with  muddy  hob -nailed  shoes  on  the  damask 
furniture,  thrusting  themselves  into  the  nooks  and 
corners  of  the  executive  mansion  with  the  air  of 
copartners,  who  had  at  last  an  opportunity  to  take 
account  of  the  assets  of  the  firm,  —  these  were  the 
people  who  demanded  that  aristocratic  incumbents 
be  deprived  of  their  offices  by  him  who  was  elected 
as  the  representative  of  "the  people,"  the  soldier, 
the  rough  and  ready  statesman  who  despised  the 
borrowed  conventionalities  of  so-called  good  so 
ciety.  Such  was  the  inauguration  of  the  spoils 
system.  The  offices  of  trust  were  handed  over  to 
the  men  who  brought  the  greatest  pressure  to 
bear,  and  could  make  plain  their  political  infij.- 


140  LEWIS  CASS 

ence  to  the  scullions  of  the  "kitchen  cabinet."  If 
the  student  of  American  politics  is  to  understand 
the  place  which  the  spoils  system  holds  he  must 
see  that  its  introduction  was  a  natural  phase  in 
our  national  development,  not  a  mere  incident 
without  antecedent  causes  rooted  in  the  past.  It 
was  when  Jackson  was  installed  that  "the  people  " 
first  realized  their  power  and  demanded  that  the 
divinity  of  vox  populi  be  recognized.  There  was 
great  talk  about  "the  people"  in  those  canting 
years,  as  if  our  social  or  political  system  gave 
place  for  classes  or  privilege.  On  that  notable 
fourth  of  March  the  crowds  invaded  Washington 
to  shout  for  a  new-found  liberty;  a  Bastille  of 
respectability  had  fallen,  and  the  guillotine  soon 
lopped  off  the  heads  of  the  office-holding  nobility, 
who  had  too  long  lived  in  aristocratic  ease  above 
"the  people." 

The  new  cabinet  had  a  dignity  of  its  own. 
Now  that  the  line  of  succession  was  determined 
upon  and  the  wires  laid  for  eight  years  to  come, 
there  was  not  so  much  room  for  the  back-stairs 
influence.  In  all  the  more  important  matters  of 
state,  the  real  cabinet  worked  its  will  and  had  its 
proper  influence.  Only  where  cunning  manipula 
tion  was  necessary  for  political  prosperity  did  the 
spirits  of  the  "kitchen  cabinet"  introduce  their 
sinister  methods.  Jackson  himself  was  the  presid 
ing  genius  of  his  own  administration  and  its  mas 
tering  spirit.  He  came  to  his  conclusions  swiftly 
and  by  instinct,  and  although  they  were  often 


SECRETARY   OF  WAR  141 

tenable  only  by  the  help  of  the  blindest  obstinacy, 
his  obstinacy  was  always  as  blind  as  the  occasion 
required.  But  a  word  of  flattery  or  the  right 
insinuation  at  the  nick  of  time  would  start  the 
wheels  of  his  prejudice  in  the  direction  desired 
by  a  cunning  politician.  Thus  he  was  often  influ 
enced  and  guided  by  men  of  less  real  ability  and 
strength  of  character  than  his  own. 

The  only  Indian  war  in  the  Northwest  after  1815 
occurred  almost  immediately  after  Cass  accepted 
the  war  portfolio.  Black  Hawk,  a  Sac  chief,  re 
fused  to  remain  in  the  reservation  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1832  he  en 
tered  Wisconsin  and  Illinois,  and  spread  alarm 
and  consternation  through  the  West.  United 
States  troops  were  hurried  to  the  spot.  Volun 
teers  were  called  from  Michigan  and  Illinois,  and 
a  border  war  was  soon  devastating  the  country. 
The  War  Department  seems  to  have  been  man 
aged  with  alertness.  Cass  had  been  too  long  ac 
quainted  with  Indian  characteristics  not  to  realize 
the  importance  of  rapidity  and  the  prompt  exhibi 
tion  of  authority.  But  the  terrible  ravages  of  the 
cholera  were  added  to  the  horrors  of  war.  The 
troops  died  in  such  numbers  that  panic  and  disease 
seemed  likely  to  do  much  greater  damage  than 
any  human  enemy.  The  dreadful  summer  of  1832 
was  long  remembered  by  the  citizens  of  the  North 
west.  A  portion  of  its  perils  was  over  when  the 
Indians  were  nearly  annihilated  in  a  battle  on 
August  2.  Black  Hawk  escaped  death,  but  was 


142  LEWIS  CASS 

imprisoned,  and  the  next  year  was  shown  around 
the  country  as  a  triumphal  captive.  The  success 
ful  administration  of  Indian  affairs  during  Cass's 
governorship,  and  the  peace  which  prevailed  dur 
ing  that  time,  lead  one  to  believe  that  had  he  still 
been  governor  and  superintendent  he  would  have 
quieted  the  Indians  without  all  the  fuss  and  flour 
ish  of  war. 

The  actual  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  War 
Department  involved,  of  course,  in  the  main  a 
great  deal  of  routine  work.  But  the  details  of 
that  work  scarcely  need  to  be  given  here.  In  the 
great  questions  of  Jackson's  administration  Cass 
was  more  than  an  interested  spectator.  His  posi 
tion  brought  him  into  active  cooperation  with  the 
President,  whose  influence  had  a  great  effect  on 
his  later  political  life. 

An  affair  more  important  to  the  country  than 
an  Indian  war  occupied  the  attention  of  his  depart 
ment  in  the  autumn  of  1832.  Calhoun's  damp 
ened  ambitions  sought  encouraging  warmth  from 
the  fires  of  state  jealousies.  The  reorganization 
of  the  cabinet  in  opposition  to  him,  the  known 
hostility  of  the  President,  the  evident  drift  of 
political  favor  in  the  direction  of  Jackson  and  his 
cajolers,  quenched  his  burning  hope,  and  left  him 
but  the  ashes  of  disappointment.  His  native  State 
was  uneasy  under  a  tariff  which  seemed  to  be  all 
for  the  manufacturers  of  New  England,  and  his 
zeal  for  national  glory  gave  place  to  sectional  jeaL 
ousy,  which  now  blazed  brightly  forth.  His  whole 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  143 

life  henceforth  was  given  to  the  support  of  what 
he  thought  were  the  interests  of  his  State.  His 
elaborate  arguments,  woven  with  greatest  care, 
furnished  a  protecting  garment  for  slavery.  His 
keen  eyes  were  always  endeavoring  to  pierce  the 
veil  of  the  future,  and  he  endeavored  to  show  in 
prophetic  vision  before  his  countrymen  the  weal 
and  woe  which  he  fancied  that  he  himself  dis 
cerned.  Although  he  seemed  to  see  farther  than 
his  contemporaries,  the  truths  of  the  future  were 
perverted  by  his  diseased  imagination  into  false 
hood,  and  though  he  was  a  seer  he  did  not  become 
a  soothsayer.  When  slave  labor  comes  into  com 
petition  with  free  labor,  it  shows  an  economical 
and  therefore  an  incurable  weakness.  It  is  inter 
esting  to  notice  that  the  first  practical  application 
of  the  doctrine  of  nullification,  the  sister  of  seces 
sion,  came  as  the  result  of  industrial  differences 
between  the  North  and  the  South.  The  most  ear 
nest  advocates  of  nullification  tilted  at  the  tariff 
windmill  as  the  cause  of  their  woes,  and  would 
not  confess,  or  did  not  see,  the  deadening  influ 
ence  of  slavery.  The  tariff  of  1828  was  so  absurd 
in  its  provisions  that  it  fairly  won  the  epithet 
"abominable,"  but  this  act  did  not  drive  the  South 
to  extreme  measures.  It  was  left  for  the  more 
moderate  and  sensible  measure  of  1832,  which 
decreased  the  revenue  by  several  millions,  to  in 
duce  South  Carolina  to  bluster  forth  in  nullifica 
tion.  Calhoun  had  already  begun  to  print  his 
finely  wrought  treatises.  McDuffie,  on  the  floor 


144  LEWIS  CASS 

of  the  House,  gave  utterance  to  the  opinion  of  his 
State,  when  he  proclaimed  that,  if  she  failed  in 
the  struggle  she  was  waging,  the  brief  days  of 
American  liberty  would  be  numbered. 

South  Carolina  was  frantic  because  her  threats 
were  simply  neglected,  and  during  the  summer 
and  autumn  of  1832  meetings  were  held,  fiercely 
denouncing  protection  to  Yankee  industries,  and 
proclaiming  that  for  the  cause  of  liberty  and  honor 
a  stand  must  be  made  against  the  tyranny  of  trad 
ing  New  England.  The  legislature,  which  was 
summoned  in  October,  issued  a  call  for  a  state 
convention,  and  on  November  19  the  delegates 
met  at  Columbia.  The  practical  workings  of  the 
nullification  theory  were  now  to  be  exhibited. 
Calhoun  saw  more  clearly  than  Jefferson  had  seen 
the  logical  relationship  between  the  federal  govern 
ment  and  the  States  of  our  Union,  if  it  was  the 
result  of  a  compact  between  sovereignties.  Ho 
saw  that  in  the  State,  and  not  the  legislature  of 
the  State,  must  reside  this  extraordinary  power 
of  nullification  and  resistance.  Jefferson,  in  the 
angry  haste  of  politics,  propounded  a  half -formed 
illogical  doctrine,  based  on  falsehood  and  carried 
to  an  absurd  conclusion.  Calhoun  selected  his 
course  to  suit  the  prejudices  of  "King  Cotton," 
but  when  once  he  had  turned  the  historical  com 
pass  to  a  false  pole  he  followed  its  direction  with 
patient  regard  for  the  stern  laws  of  logic.  Nulli 
fication,  as  it  showed  itself  in  South  Carolina,  was 
a  legitimate  expression  of  state- sovereignty,  and 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  145 

the  method  of  its  actual  application  was  an  illumi 
nating  lesson  to  those  who  had  not  followed  argu 
ment  or  appreciated  the  ends  of  theory. 

A  committee  of  twenty-one,  appointed  by  Gov 
ernor  Hamilton,  who  was  president  of  the  popular 
convention,  drew  up  an  "Ordinance,"  "To  pro 
vide  for  arresting  the  operation  of  certain  acts  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  purporting  to 
be  laws  laying  duties  and  imposts  on  the  importa 
tion  of  foreign  commodities."  The  obnoxious  laws 
were  declared  null  and  void,  and  the  legislature 
was  authorized  to  adopt  such  measures  as  might 
be  necessary  to  give  full  effect  to  the  views  of  the 
convention.  All  appeals  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  were  forbidden,  and  all  offi 
cers  and  jurors  were  to  be  bound  by  oath  to  ob 
serve  the  ordinance  and  the  laws  of  the  legislature 
passed  in  pursuance  of  it.  If  there  was  an  at 
tempt  on  the  part  of  the  central  government  to 
enforce  the  tariff  laws,  the  people  of  the  State,  it 
was  announced,  would  consider  themselves  absolved 
from  all  further  political  obligation  as  a  member 
of  the  confederacy,  and  would  prepare  to  do  all 
the  acts  of  a  sovereign  and  independent  commu 
nity.  An  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  abounded  in  mathematical  and  rhetorical 
figures,  whose-  services  were  invoked  to  prove  the 
injustice  of  the  tariff  and  to  portray  the  position 
of  the  State.  "We  would  infinitely  prefer,"  pro 
claimed  these  inconsistent  slave  barons,  forming 
a  political  and  social  oligarchy,  "that  the  territory 


146  LEWIS  CASS 

of  the  State  should  be  the  cemetery  of  freemen 
than  the  habitation  of  slaves."  l  Not  till  February 
1,  however,  was  there  to  be  a  resistance  to  the 
laws  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  boldly  done.  But  "Old  Hickory"  at 
Washington  was  prompt  and  energetic.  In  the 
heat  of  the  presidential  campaign,  when  the  people 
were  shouting  themselves  hoarse  for  their  hero, 
and  raising  tall  hickory  poles  as  party  emblems, 
the  old  general  had  turned  uneasily  toward  South 
Carolina,  and  listened  for  premonitory  rumblings 
of  the  earthquake.  He  did  not  waste  his  energy 
in  wringing  his  hands,  as  did  Buchanan  in  another 
fateful  crisis  in  our  history.  On  October  6  the 
collector  of  customs  was  given  explicit  directions 
what  to  do  in  case  there  was  any  attempt  to  avoid 
payment  of  duties.  As  early  as  October  29  Major- 
General  Macomb  sent  word  to  Major  Heileman, 
commanding  the  troops  of  the  United  States  in 
Charleston,  that  information  received  by  the  ex 
ecutive  suggested  the  possibility  of  an  attempt  to 
seize  the  forts,  and  the  commander  was  warned 
to  be  on  his  guard.2  Additional  troops  were  sent  to 
Fort  Moultrie,  November  7,  and  on  the  18th  Cass 
wrote  to  General  Scott,  directing  him  to  proceed 
at  once  to  Charleston  for  the  purpose  of  examin 
ing  the  defenses,  and  to  hold  himself  in  readiness 
to  assist  the  civil  officers  of  the  United  States,  if 

1  Full  proceedings  of  convention,  Niles,  vol.  xliii.  pp.  219,  230, 
etc. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Military  Affairs,  vol.  v.  p.  158. 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  147 

occasion  should  make  it  necessary  and  the  Presi 
dent  should  so  direct.  A  fortnight  later  a  confi 
dential  letter  from  the  War  Department  compli 
mented  General  Scott  on  the  discretion  and  good 
judgment  he  had  manifested.  The  following  sen 
tences  from  Cass's  letter  very  succinctly  state  the 
attitude  of  the  general  government  toward  the 
whole  conspiracy:  "I  cannot  but  hope  that  the 
good  sense  and  patriotism  of  the  citizens  of  South 
Carolina  will  still  prevent  the  occurrence  of  those 
consequences  which  must  result  from  the  attempt 
to  enforce  the  ordinance  recently  passed  by  the 
convention  of  that  State.  In  any  event,  the  Presi 
dent  will  perform  his  duty,  and  only  his  duty, 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States."1 
Eeinforcements  were  sent  to  Charleston  on  the 
4th. 

Congress  assembled  on  December  3,  and  read 
a  very  quiet  and  restrained  message  from  the 
President,  in  which  there  was  no  blare  from  the 
trumpet  of  war.  Yet  Jackson  was  excited  enough. 
If  his  annual  message  was  calm,  the  storm  was  to 
follow.  His  practical  sense  pierced  the  bubble 
arguments  of  the  iiullifiers,  and  in  homely  phrase 
he  summed  up  the  dire  results  of  state  sovereignty. 
"If  this  thing  goes  on,"  he  said  to  his  friend  Dale, 
"our  country  will  be  like  a  bag  of  meal  with  both 
ends  open.  Pick  it  up  in  the  middle  or  endwise, 
and  it  will  run  out.  I  must  tie  the  bag  and  save 
the  country."  When  South  Carolina  adopted  the 
1  American  State  Papers,  Military  Affairs,  vol.  v.  p.  159. 


148  LEWIS  CASS 

ordinance,  and  nullification  was  fairly  in  view,  he 
was  prepared  to  strike.  It  was  generally  believed 
that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  seize  Calhoun  on 
the  charge  of  treason,  the  instant  force  was  used 
against  the  officers  of  the  United  States,  and  many 
believed  that  the  fear  of  such  consequences  influ 
enced  the  final  settlement  of  the  controversy.  On 
December  11  appeared  his  celebrated  proclama 
tion,  full  of  earnest,  pathetic  pleading,  strong 
assertion,  and  profound  argument.  Verbally  it 
belongs  to  Livingston,  but  it  is  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  Jackson.  On  that  hang  his  claims  to 
grateful  remembrance.  That  he  was  instrumental 
in  infecting  the  body  politic  with  the  loathsome 
disease  of  spoils  distribution,  that  his  blundering 
financial  management  hastened  and  aggravated  a 
disastrous  panic,  that  under  the  fostering  wings 
of  his  administration  a  whole  brood  of  evil  politi 
cal  fledglings  matured,  —  all  these  faults  will  be 
forgotten  by  the  people  who  remember  that  the 
hero  of  New  Orleans  bruised  with  his  heel  the 
hissing  head  of  nullification. 

Vessels  were  sent  to  Charleston  by  the  Navy 
Department  in  December,  and  as  February  1  ap 
proached  every  precaution  was  taken  by  the  War 
Department  to  prepare  for  forcible  resistance. 
Cass  wrote  to  General  Scott,  ordering  him  again 
to  Charleston  (January  26)  to  repel  with  force  any 
attempt  to  seize  the  forts,  but  throughout  all  to 
use  the  utmost  discretion  and  self-restraint.  This 
letter,  in  some  unknown  way,  reached  the  public 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  149 

press,  and  the  contents  of  the  last  clause,  which 
suggested  that  two  places  be  examined  as  possible 
strategic  points  for  the  federal  army,  caused  con 
siderable  excitement  in  the  angered  State.  Gen 
eral  Scott  assures  us,  in  his  eulogistic  autobiogra 
phy,  that  if  a  spade  had  been  put  into  the  ground 
at  this  time  for  a  new  work  beyond  Sullivan's 
Island,  civil  war  would  have  been  inaugurated  on 
the  spot.  The  popular  imagination  pictures  Jack 
son  raving  for  war  and  aching  to  crush  Calhoun 
and  his  fellow  plotters.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
he  occasionally  gave  way  to  wrath,  and  expressed 
his  opinion  with  more  vehemence  than  grace;  it  is 
perfectly  clear  that  he  made  every  preparation 
against  forcible  resistance  to  federal  authority; 
but  it  is  just  as  clear  that  he  was  anxious  to  avoid 
a  conflict  if  possible.  The  letters  of  Cass  at  this 
period  show  very  distinctly  the  extreme  solicitude 
which  tempered  the  stern  decision  of  the  adminis 
tration.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  a 
letter,  purporting  to  come  "from  one  of  the  ablest 
men  in  the  country,"  which  appeared  in  the  "Kich- 
mond  Enquirer  "  under  date  of  December  13, 1832, 
was  written  by  Cass  himself  at  the  request  of  the 
President.  Artfully  suggesting  the  importance  of 
Virginia,  this  letter  proposes  that  the  Old  Domin 
ion,  "in  one  of  those  forcible  appeals  she  so  well 
knows  how  to  make,"  should  urge  upon  Congress 
a  great  reduction  of  the  tariff,  and  "plead  as  a 
suffering  sister  with  wayward  South  Carolina."1 
1  Smith's  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass,  p.  274. 


150  LEWIS  CASS 

The  suggestion  was  followed.  Virginia,  whether 
influenced  by  this  appeal  "from  one  of  the  ablest 
men,"  or  not,  prepared  to  play  the  role  of  umpire, 
sending  B.  W.  Leigh  as  envoy  to  Charleston.  He 
was  there  received  with  honor,  and  though  his 
pleadings  probably  had  little  direct  influence,  Vir 
ginia's  intercession  gave  another  excuse  for  back 
ing  down  from  the  high  ground  of  the  ordinance. 
Such  was  unquestionably  Jackson's  attitude. 
While  presenting  a  bold  front  and  making  every 
preparation  to  defend  federal  property  and  execute 
federal  law,  while  angry  with  all  the  heat  of  his 
choleric  nature  at  the  nullifying  conspirators, 
while  every  warlike  impulse  was  opposed  to  capit 
ulation  with  a  State  in  arms,  he  nevertheless  had 
a  fervent  love  for  the  Union,  of  which  even  his 
own  unreasoning  wrath  could  not  deprive  him. 

The  end  of  the  controversy  can  be  stated  in  a 
word.  Pending  conciliatory  measures  on  the  part 
of  the  general  government,  the  time  for  putting 
the  nullifying  laws  into  practical  operation  was 
postponed.  The  President,  in  a  message  issued 
January  16,  asked  Congress  to  make  certain  regu 
lations  with  regard  to  the  customs  districts,  and 
to  authorize  the  use  of  the  military  force  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  and  assisting  the  civil  offi 
cers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  A  bill  drafted 
to  meet  these  suggestions  was  introduced  into 
Congress.  Perfectly  right  on  every  constitutional 
and  political  ground,  such  a  proposition  was  re 
ceived  with  some  dismay  by  conservative  lovers 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  151 

of  peace,  and  the  bill  as  drafted  soon  labored  un 
der  unpopular  epithets,  and  was  commonly  known 
as  the  "force  bill  "  or  "bloody  bill."  Verplanck, 
a  representative  from  New  York,  had  already  in 
troduced  into  the  House  a  measure  for  the  reduc 
tion  of  the  tariff.  This  was  so  sweeping  in  its 
provisions  that  it  meant  practically  an  abandon 
ment  of  the  protective  policy  and  a  complete  sur 
render  to  South  Carolina.  Clay,  the  great  com 
promiser,  now  came  forward,  February  12,  with 
a  plan  for  a  gradual  reduction  of  the  revenue. 
Great  was  the  consternation  at  the  North  when 
the  father  of  the  "American  system"  was  beheld 
preparing  to  murder  his  own  child  by  slow  poison. 
Manufacturers  hastened  to  Washington  to  prevent 
such  action;  but  some  saw  their  danger,  and  re 
mained  to  advocate  the  passage  of  the  measure. 
It  was  passed  side  by  side  with  the  "force  bill." 
Both  were  signed  by  the  President  on  March  2, 
and  thus  with  mingled  threats  and  coaxings  the 
petulant  State  was  won  back  to  obedience.  On 
the  whole,  it  was  a  shameful  victory  for  state 
impudence.  Although  the  "force  bill "  was  passed, 
and  Jackson  upheld  the  national  dignity,  nullifica 
tion  accomplished  its  purpose,  —  the  reduction  of 
the  tariff.  The  objectionable  ordinance  was  re 
pealed  by  South  Carolina,  but  at  the  same  time 
she  proclaimed  the  "force  bill"  null  and  void 
within  her  limits. 

This  was  an  instructive  period  in  the  life  of 
Cass.     He  completed  his  fiftieth  year  in  the  midst 


152  LEWIS  CASS 

of  the  controversy,  and  as  yet  he  had  seen  very 
little  of  national  politics.  The  long  years  of  his 
governorship  had  been  spent  in  active  manage 
ment  of  local  concerns,  or  in  long  journeys  through 
the  wilderness.  His  constant  reading  had  made 
him  more  familiar  with  questions  of  national  poli 
tics  than  most  men  would  have  been  had  they 
spent  a  score  of  years  in  a  frontier  settlement, 
where  for  a  considerable  period  even  newspapers, 
with  their  stale  news,  came  late  and  irregularly 
through  the  mails.  His  first  practical  training  in 
national  politics  he  received  in  the  stern  Jack- 
sonian  school,  a  school  whose  cardinal  regulations 
possessed  a  mischievous  inconsistency.  Love  for 
the  Union,  hatred  of  foreign  aggression,  champion 
ship  of  popular  rights,  spoils  distribution,  machine 
politics,  were  badly  mingled;  strict  construction 
of  the  Constitution  struggled  in  equal  conflict  with 
a  reckless  abuse  of  power;  and  high-handed  inter 
ference  was  supported  by  appeals  to  the  "people," 
who  are  unknown  in  our  political  system  except 
as  they  express  their  will  by  constitutional  and 
prescribed  methods.  Cass  did  not  forget  the  stand 
taken  against  nullification.  From  this  time  he 
was  a  radical  Jacksonian  Democrat.  The  success 
of  the  administration  in  its  foreign  relations  also 
met  with  his  approbation,  and  increased  the  feel 
ing  which  he  already  had,  that  our  country  should 
present  a  bold  front  to  other  nations.  Jackson 
won  his  deepest  admiration,  and  inspired  him  with 
the  love  which  the  peremptory  old  general  seemed 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  153 

often  to  force  upon  those  about  him  by  his  inde 
finable  grace,  and  by  an  unexpected  and  curiously 
vigorous  sweetness  in-the-rough. 

In  1833  Jackson  went  North  on  a  tour  for  re 
creation  and  applause.  Cass  accompanied  him. 
Crowds  cheered  the  tough  old  general  who  had 
just  put  down  nullification.  Cities  tendered  him 
their  freedom  and  the  mob  went  wild.  The  aris 
tocrats  averted  their  faces,  but  the  popular  enthu 
siasm  was  undoubted.  Harvard,  to  the  disgust 
of  the  learned,  dubbed  his  illiterate  excellency 
Doctor  of  Laws.  From  these  scenes  of  merry 
making  and  exultation,  and  before  the  exhausting 
itinerary  was  finished,  the  President  hurried  home, 
on  the  plea  of  illness,  to  strike  another  blow  at 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  It  is  possible 
that  he  was  moved  by  proper  motives.  But  sheer 
malice  against  Nicholas  Biddle  and  his  moneyed 
monster  was  probably  the  chief  cause.  With  a 
reckless  indifference  to  the  effect  on  the  business 
of  the  country,  an  indifference  which  arose  from 
a  complete  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  finance  and 
the  sensitive  nature  of  capital,  he  dashed  into  a 
contest  with  the  national  bank  as  if  he  were  hunt 
ing  Indians  in  the  swamps  of  Florida.  By  law, 
the  public  funds  were  to  be  deposited  in  the  bank, 
-subject  to  removal  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
who  was  to  give  his  reasons  to  Congress  in  case 
of  removal.  Jackson  determined  upon  a  removal 
of  the  deposits  and  a  distribution  of  the  money 
among  the  various  state  banks.  He  had  difficulty 


154  LEWIS  CASS 

in  getting  his  cabinet  to  agree  to  this.  Dnane, 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  was  determined  to 
stand  on  what  he  considered  his  prerogative,  and 
refused  to  remove  the  deposits  at  the  President's 
request.  He  was  dismissed,  and  Taney  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  Treasury,  ready  to  do  Jackson's  bid 
ding  and  elaborately  to  defend  his  action.  Me- 
Lane,  who  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  had  been 
transferred  from  the  Treasury  Department  to  that 
of  State,  and  had  all  along  been  averse  to  a  re 
moval  of  the  deposits,  was  still  strongly  opposed 
to  the  measure.  He  wished  to  resign,  but  Mas 
dissuaded.  On  September  23  Cass  made  an  ap 
pointment  with  Lewis  to  discuss  the  matter.  Lewis 
was  the  head  of  the  "kitchen  cabinet/'  the  fami 
liar  of  Jackson.  "He  commenced  the  conversa 
tion,"1  wrote  Lewis,  "by  remarking  that  his  ob 
ject  in  desiring  to  see  me  before  I  left  was  to 
inform  me  that  he  had  determined  to  resign  his 
seat  in  the  cabinet,  and  wished  to  converse  with 
me  upon  the  subject  before  he  handed  his  letter 
of  resignation  to  the  President.  He  said  he  dif 
fered  with  the  President  with  regard  to  the  mea 
sures  which  were  about  to  be  adopted  for  the 
removal  of  the  public  deposits  from  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  as  his  remaining  in  the  cabinet 
might  embarrass  his  operations,  he  owed  it,  he 
thought,  both  to  himself  and  the  President,  to 
withdraw."  Lewis  urged  him  to  acquaint  Jackson 
with  his  intention  before  he  actually  resigned,  and 

1  Parton's  Jackson,  vol.  iii.  p.  501. 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  155 

the  result  of  the  interview  between  the  secretary 
and  his  chief  was  that  Cass  was  asked  to  remain, 
with  the  understanding  that  the  responsibility  for 
the  act  should  rest,  not  with  the  cabinet,  but  with 
the  President  alone.  In  a  later  cabinet  meeting, 
when  asked  his  opinion  of  the  measure,  Cass  sim 
ply  and  frankly  said:  "You  know,  sir,  I  have 
always  thought  that  the  matter  rests  entirely  with 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury." 

The  political  affiliations  of  the  new  West  during 
these  years  are  evident.  Michigan  was  a  Territory 
struggling  vehemently  until  1837  for  admission. 
Her  last  successful  efforts  were  stimulated,  per 
haps,  by  a  hope  that  if  she  was  admitted  to  the 
Union  a  small  rill  from  the  plethoric  national  trea 
sury  would  trickle  into  her  ready  coffers.  Party 
organization  on  national  lines  was  hardly  known 
as  yet.  On  all  great  questions  the  people  natu 
rally  belonged  with  their  brethren  of  New  York 
and  New  England ;  but  of  course  there  was  great 
admiration  among  the  poor  settlers  for  the  "man 
of  the  people,"  and  Michigan  may  be  counted  in 
the  line  of  Democratic  States  until  the  slavery 
question  offered  a  great  moral  issue.  There  were 
occasional  backslidings  from  the  true  Democratic 
faith.  The  hard  times  which  followed  the  finan 
cial  disasters  of  1837  turned  people  against  "the 
Little  Magician,"  whose  magic  wand  had  lost  its 
cunning.  The  people  of  Michigan  shouted  them 
selves  hoarse  for  Harrison  and  "hard  cider"  in 
1840,  and  the  State  was  carried  by  the  Whigs  by 


156  LEWIS  CASS 

some  2000  as  against  a  majority  of  3000  for  Van 
Buren  in  1836,  when  the  vote  of  the  quasi  State 
was  only  about  one  fourth  of  what  it  was  four 
years  later.  But  it  will  be  noticed  that  in  1840 
Harrison  was  the  popular  hero,  the  stalwart  "  Old 
Tip;  "  "Matty"  Van  Buren  was  the  aristocrat  of 
the  White  House,  who  was  rolling  in  wealth  and 
supping  from  golden  spoons,  while  the  people  who 
had  elected  him  were  starving.  The  students  of 
our  politics  have  not  fully  confessed  the  efficiency 
of  poverty  as  a  political  motor.  Our  practical 
politicians  in  these  latter  days  have  carefully  conned 
the  lessons  of  the  past,  and  cover  up  most  dexter 
ously  any  advantage  their  candidate  may  have  by 
reason  of  superior  education  or  the  ability  inher 
ited  from  good  ancestry. 

In  the  other  States  of  the  Northwest  somewhat 
similar  courses  can  be  traced,  varied  by  the  pecul 
iarities  of  their  settlement.  Ohio,  with  her  strong 
Eastern  flavor,  inclined  with  some  constancy  to 
whiggery.  Of  the  Northwestern  States,  Illinois 
alone  in  1840  clung  by  a  small  majority  to  the 
failing  cause  of  Jacksonism,  and  cast  its  electoral 
votes  for  Van  Buren.  But  that  State  had  all  along 
been  peculiarly  Democratic.  It  had  a  large  South 
ern  element.  Many  of  the  poor  whites  pushed 
their  way  north  over  the  prairies  of  Illinois.  From 
1826  every  general  election  resulted  in  favor  of 
Jackson  and  his  party  until  the  old  general  went 
into  restless  retirement  at  the  Hermitage.  Doubt 
less  the  persistency  of  Illinois  in  her  political 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  157 

course  can  be  attributed  largely  to  this  strong 
Southern  element.  But  it  would  be  anticipating 
later  political  divisions  to  attribute  such  Demo 
cratic  affiliation  entirely  to  the  Southern  settlers. 
Jacksonian  Democracy  was  the  political  faith  of 
the  masses,  of  those  most  easily  influenced  by 
the  tricks  of  the  politician  and  the  wire-puller. 
"The  people"  were  Democrats,  from  whatever 
part  of  the  country  they  came.  Cook  County, 
which  was  settled  by  Yankees,  pushing  and  vigor 
ous  men,  did  not  fall  behind  the  settlers  of  south 
ern  Illinois  in  zeal  for  Democracy.  This  county 
was  Democratic  even  in  1844,  casting  2027  votes 
for  Polk  and  only  1117  for  Clay.  Democracy 
was  firmly  planted  and  unbending.  Party  lines 
at  first  were  not  closely  drawn,  but  there  was  no 
hope  for  the  man  who  was  opposed  to  the  "man 
of  the  people."  The  campaigns  were  conducted 
in  that  new  Western  country  in  a  manner  which 
leads  us  to  look  with  more  equanimity  upon  the 
vices  of  modern  politics.  The  saloons  in  the 
county  seats  were  chartered  by  the  candidates  for 
popular  favors;  whiskey  in  vast  quantities  heigh 
tened  the  fervor  of  the  people,  whose  voice  was 
to  be  the  voice  of  God.  Governor  Ford,  who  was 
an  interested  spectator  on  these  occasions,  tells  us 
of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  whose  "morality  was 
not  of  the  pinched  kind  which  prevented  him  from 
using  all  the  common  arts  of  a  candidate  for  office." 
He  went  forth  to  election  with  a  Bible  in  one 
pocket  and  a  bottle  of  whiskey  in  the  other,  pre- 


158  LEWIS  CASS 

pared  to  make  himself  agreeable  to  all.  So  fully 
had  the  people  adopted  the  creed  of  "Old  Hick 
ory  "  that  we  are  told  that  Democrats  were  divided 
in  that  pork-packing  State  into  "whole  hog"  Jack 
son  men  and  nominal  Jackson  men.1  The  people 
had  come  into  the  West  in  order  to  better  their 
condition,  and  politics  were  considered  by  many 
a  legitimate  road  to  bodily  comfort.  Few  seemed 
to  realize  that  they  were  laying  the  foundations  of 
a  great  commonwealth ;  but  the  race  of  politicians 
developed,  as  in  the  East.  The  politician  "for 
revenue  only "  practiced  his  clever  tactics,  and 
early  in  the  history  of  these  frontier  States  wires 
were  laid  as  skillfully  as  in  the  more  populous 
States  of  the  coast.  The  people,  on  the  whole, 
took  far  more  interest  in  politics  than  in  political 
principles. 

The  Western  States  developed  rapidly  during 
these  years.  The  craze  for  internal  improvement 
left  some  good  behind,  and  the  wild  speculation  in 
land  drew  immigrants  into  the  country  by  thou 
sands.  Steamers  on  the  lakes  were  crowded  with 
families  on  their  way  to  Michigan  and  the  West. 
Ninety  steamers  arrived  at  Detroit  in  May,  1836, 
crowded  with  new  settlers  and  with  those  who 
were  anxious  to  speculate  in  the  Western  lands. 
Land  sales  were  enormous.  The  roads  in  the  in 
terior  of  Michigan  were  thronged  with  wagons. 
The  immigrants  of  this  period  were,  as  before, 
principally  from  New  York  and  New  England. 

1  Ford's  History  of  Illinois,  p.  105. 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  159 

Others,  from  Ireland  and  Germany,  however,  began 
about  1832  to  find  their  way  in  small  numbers  into 
the  West. 

One  other  matter  of  importance  remains  to  be 
discussed  in  this  period  of  Cass's  life.  The  re 
moval  of  the  Florida  Indians  to  reservations  west 
of  the  Mississippi  was  carefully  considered  by 
Cass  as  soon  as  he  became  secretary.  He  had 
long  contemplated  the  desirability  of  such  a  plan. 
No  one  better  understood  the  condition  of  the  red 
man  in  the  Northwest,  or  more  keenly  appreciated 
the  difficulties  of  the  Indian  problem.  His  work 
in  Michigan  amply  proves  his  fairness  and  hon 
esty,  his  humanity  and  sympathy.  In  1830  he 
wrote  for  the  "North  American  Review"  a  long 
article  on  the  subject  of  removal.  It  is  candid 
in  its  tone  and  exhaustive  in  treatment,  pointing 
out  the  woeful  condition  of  the  Indians  in  their 
present  situation,  picturing  their  degradation  as 
victims  to  the  vices  of  Christian  civilization.  He 
contended  that  they  must  be  removed,  and  that 
speedily,  if  a  remnant  was  to  be  saved.  He 
showed  no  sympathy  for  the  maudlin  sentimental 
ity  which  would  weep  over  the  sorrows  of  the  noble 
warrior  and  suggest  no  remedy  for  evident  evils. 

Later  animosity  has  declared  that  the  whole 
plan  of  removing  the  southern  Indians  was  one 
of  the  satanic  wiles  of  the  slaveholder.  But  it 
will  not  do  to  antedate  political  motive.  The 
planters  did  wish  to  get  possession  of  the  land 
held  by  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  and  the  planter 


160  LEWIS   CASS 

was  a  slaveholder.  But  there  is  no  need  of  attri 
buting  the  desire  to  the  political  greed  of  the  slavo- 
cracy.  This  error  is  more  plainly  illustrated  by 
an  earlier  instance.  Calhoun's  plan,  when  secre 
tary  of  war  under  Monroe,  to  remove  the  Indians 
of  New  York  into  the  western  part  of  Michigan 
Territory,  now  Wisconsin,  has  been  seriously  re 
ferred,  not  to  a  desire  to  release  New  York,  but 
to  a  wish  to  burden  the  free  Northwest  and  retard 
its  development  It  is  true  that  the  contradictory 
interests  of  North  and  South  came  out  pretty 
clearly  in  the  Missouri  compromise  discussion; 
but  it  is  anticipating  later  politics  and  entirely 
misconstruing  the  growth  of  Calhoun  as  a  states 
man  and  a  slavocrat  to  think  that  he  or  any  one 
foresaw  in  1820  the  whole  drift  of  Southern  efforts 
to  obtain  room  for  slavery  extension.  It  is  just 
as  much  the  part  of  folly  to  announce  that  Cass 
was  a  "doughface  "  in  1831,  pandering  to  Southern 
prejudices  and  bending  a  pliable  conscience,  as  it 
is  to  state  that  his  good  sense  in  1820  concerning 
the  removal  of  the  New  York  Indians  was  due  to 
a  desire  to  circumvent  a  plan  of  a  plotting  slave 
holder.  He  was  a  Western  man,  not  a  Southerner, 
and  his  action  was  a  Western  action,  based  on  West 
ern  appreciation  of  the  Indian  character  and  of  the 
relation  of  the  tribes  to  the  general  government. 

The  idea  of  removing  the  Indians  was,  as  Ben- 
ton  says,  as  old  as  Jefferson.  It  had  been  dis 
cussed  at  various  times.  Monroe,  in  his  annual 
message  in  1824,  set  forth  the  desirability  of  trans- 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  161 

porting  them  into  the  West.  Cass  elaborated  a 
plan  in  his  first  report  in  1831.  He  believed  that 
the  Indians  would  be  better  off  if  freed  from  the 
influence  of  the  whites.  He  feared  the  practical 
application  of  the  doctrine  announced  by  the  Su 
preme  Court,  that  a  tribe  within  the  limits  of  the 
State  was  exempt  from  state  control ;  he  realized 
that  the  executive  and  the  court  were  at  variance 
on  the  subject,  and  that  a  uniform  basis  of  man 
agement  ought  to  be  determined  upon  if  possible. 
It  is  apparent  that  he  sided  with  the  President  in 
maintaining  the  authority  of  the  executive  as  a 
"coordinate  branch  of  the  government,"  and  per 
haps  thought  that,  as  far  as  it  affected  a  present 
practical  question,  Jackson  was  right  in  his  famous 
opposition  to  the  judiciary:  "John  Marshall  has 
given  his  judgment,  let  him  enforce  it  if  he  can." 
Indeed,  Cass  the  next  year,  March,  1832,  seems 
to  have  printed  an  exhaustive  argument  in  the 
"Globe,"  attempting  to  prove  that  the  Supreme 
Court  was  wrong  and  Jackson  was  right  in  the 
Cherokee  matter.  "When  a  solemn  and  final  de 
cision  was  pronounced,  and  Georgia  refused  to 
obey  the  decree  of  the  court,  no  reproof  for  her 
refractory  spirit  was  heard;  on  the  contrary,  a 
learned  review  of  the  decision  came  out,  attributed 
to  executive  countenance  and  favor."1  When  one 
of  the  cabinet  spent  his  time  in  writing  a  long 
refutation  of  a  judicial  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  affairs  of  state  were  assuredly  in  a  badly 

1  From  a  speech  by  Mr.  Miller,  in  Senate,  1833. 


162  LEWIS  CASS 

mixed  condition.  But  the  Jacksonian  party  was 
a  creature  more  curious  than  any  curiosity  of 
mythology;  although  its  body  and  legs  were  popu 
lar  sovereignty  and  mob  democracy,  the  head  and 
arms  were  monarchical  arrogance  and  the  invinci 
ble  obstinacy  of  self-reliance. 

We  need  not  go  into  the  woeful  scenes  which 
resulted  from  the  effort  to  remove  the  Creeks  and 
Seminoles.  As  in  other  difficulties  of  this  kind, 
the  wrong  was  not  all  on  one  side.  Sentimental 
ignorance  alone  represents  the  cruel  Oceola  as  a 
noble  brave,  fighting  with  generous  patriotism  for 
the  lands  of  his  family  and  the  graves  of  his  sires. 
On  the  other  hand,  no  one  can  look  upon  this 
scene  from  the  history  of  a  slave-owning  country 
without  feelings  of  shame  and  indignation.  Be 
fore  there  was  any  excuse  for  war,  the  slave  deal 
ers  were  too  anxious  to  get  control  of  the  negroes 
of  the  Seminoles.  Actual  hostilities  were  begun 
by  a  wanton  outrage;  the  wife  of  Oceola  was 
seized  as  the  daughter  of  a  slave,  and  was  carried 
away  into  slavery.  Oceola's  vengeance  was  felt, 
and  he  was  captured  by  treachery.  One  who  re 
spects  his  country  shrinks  from  poking  into  the 
slime  of  the  disgraceful  contest,  where  our  govern 
ment  became  a  trafficker  in  human  flesh,  and  used 
its  power  in  behalf  of  the  lowest  passions  of  man. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  shameful  greed  of  the 
slave  dealer,  who  longed  to  get  possession  of  the 
negroes  who  were  either  held  in  slavery  by  the 
Seminoles  or  lived  with  them  on  terms  of  equality, 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  163 

the  course  of  the  war  would  have  been  different 
and  the  contest  more  honorable.  But  these  human 
vampires  respected  no  treaties  and  regarded  no 
rights.  In  the  end,  the  war  was  not  successful. 
After  the  expenditure  of  not  less  than  130,000,000 
and  the  loss  of  many  lives,  after  eight  years  of 
slave  chasing  and  Indian  hunting  in  the  miasmic 
swamps  and  everglades,  under  the  torrid  sun  of 
Florida,  the  government  was  obliged  to  take  the 
advice  which  Cass  had  given  when  war  had  fairly 
begun  —  obtain  peace  by  giving  Florida  to  the 
possession  of  armed  settlers.1 

Many  charges  and  recriminations  were  the  fruits 
of  this  shameful  affair.  Scott  was  charged  with 
inefficiency.  Cass  was  accused  of  negligence. 
Abuse  was  heaped  on  all  interested.  Jackson,  as 
usual,  lost  himself  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage  because 
all  went  not  well.  "Let  the  damned  scoundrels 
defend  their  country,"  he  exclaimed;  "he  could 
take  fifty  women,  and  whip  every  Indian  that 
ever  crossed  the  Suwanee."2  A  fair  examination 
absolves  the  secretary  of  war  from  the  charge  of 
carelessness  or  neglect.  He  apparently  acted  on 
the  knowledge  sent  him,  and  supplied  the  generals 
at  the  front  with  all  the  troops  they  asked  for  or 
suggested  the  need  of.  The  truth  is,  that  it  was 
no  easy  task  to  drive  a  handful  of  determined  men 
from  retreats  which  were  almost  inaccessible,  and 
the  deeds  of  the  army,  as  such,  were  by  no  means 

1  Schouler's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  iv.  p.  319. 

2  Niles,  vol.  In.  p.  98. 


164  LEWIS  CASS 

without  honor.  But  Cass  cannot  be  relieved  of 
the  charge  that  negro  slavery  did  not  appeal  to 
him  in  its  awfulness,  and  that  he  could  see  no 
harm  in  returning  the  fugitive  slaves  to  bondage. 
Who  in  those  days  did  see  the  institution  in  its 
proper  light?  The  war  was  nearly  finished  before 
even  Giddings  of  Ohio  branded  it  as  a  slave  chase 
and  pointed  the  finger  of  shame.  This  war,  in 
deed,  marks  the  lowest  depth  to  which  Northern 
apathy  sank.  After  1841,  not  a  step  could  be 
taken  by  the  government  that  suspicious  abolition 
ists  did  not  peer  about  for  a  possible  proslavery 
motive. 

The  War  Department,  at  the  period  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  had  charge  of  many  matters 
which  are  now  cared  for  by  the  Department  of 
the  Interior.  The  details  of  the  office  demanded 
constant  attention,  and  it  is  apparent  from  the 
long  reports  which  General  Cass  made  that  he 
studied  with  care  all  portions  of  his  duties.  He 
entered  into  an  elaborate  discussion  of  the  neces 
sity  for  coast  defenses.  Arguing  that  a  navy  was 
the  best  fortification,  he  advised  the  building  of 
a  navy  which  would  be  at  least  nearly  adequate 
for  purposes  of  defense.  He  examined  with  care 
the  condition  of  the  army,  and  it  may  be  said,  to 
his  honor,  that  he  advocated  that  the  practice  of 
giving  whiskey  rations  to  the  soldiers  should  be 
stopped. 

Until  Cass  took  the  war  portfolio,  his  life  had 
been  spent  in  active  employment.  During  his 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR  165 

governorship  he  had  passed  months  at  a  time  trav 
eling  over  the  Western  country,  and  now  incessant 
sedentary  labor  and  constant  attention  to  the  de 
tails  of  his  office  were  impairing  his  health,  and  it 
soon  became  evident  that  he  must  have  change 
and  diversion.  The  President  therefore  offered 
to  appoint  him  minister  to  France,  and  Cass  ac 
cepted  the  offer,  with  the  understanding  that  he 
should  be  allowed  to  leave  Paris  on  a  tour  for 
recreation  and  pleasure.  James  Buchanan  has 
left  us  the  improbable  story  that  Cass  was  trans 
ported  because  Jackson  desired  to  get  rid  of  him 
and  to  employ  some  one  possessed  of  more  alert 
ness  and  business  ability.  According  to  this  ac 
count,  the  President  used  the  following  language : 
"I  can  no  longer  consent  to  do  the  duties  both  of 
the  President  and  secretary  of  war.  General  Cass 
will  decide  nothing  for  himself,  but  comes  to  me 
constantly  with  great  bundles  of  papers,  to  decide 
questions  for  him  which  he  ought  to  decide  him 
self."1  The  light  of  events  to  be  recorded  here 
after  will  properly  illumine  this  statement  made 
by  Buchanan,  whose  indecision  and  vacillation  can 
not  be  reasoned  out  of  the  memory  of  the  American 
people.  Every  circumstance  refutes  it.  Jackson 
admired  Cass;  Cass  loved  Jackson.  The  visitor 
at  the  Hermitage  in  later  years  saw  in  the  hall 
the  bust  of  the  Northwestern  statesman.  Their 
whole  intercourse  is  the  best  proof  of  mutual  con 
sideration  and  respect.  That  a  man  who  had 

1  Curtis's  Life  of  Buchanan,  vol.  ii.  p.  399. 


166  LEWIS  CASS 

continuously  acted  with  promptitude  and  boldness 
from  the  battle  at  the  River  Canard  until  he  be 
came  secretary  of  war  should  suddenly  become 
timid  and  hesitating  is  beyond  belief.  Twice  dur 
ing  Jackson's  administration  Cass  offered  to  re 
sign,  and  twice  was  persuaded  to  keep  his  office. 
At  the  end  Jackson  accepted  the  resignation  with 
reluctance.  After  the  return  of  Cass  from  France, 
the  venerable  ex-President,  praising  him  for  his 
services  abroad,  referred  to  their  pleasant  official 
relations  and  to  the  efficiency  with  which  the  af 
fairs  of  the  War  Department  had  been  conducted.1 
If  the  secretary  had  been  grossly  incapable,  Jack 
son  would  not  have  waited  until  the  closing  months 
of  his  administration  before  he  put  the  department 
into  more  competent  hands.  In  June,  1836,  the 
appointment  as  minister  to  Paris  was  sent  in  to 
the  Senate,  and  immediately  received  the  unani 
mous  consent  of  that  body  —  no  slight  compliment, 
if  we  consider  the  height  of  political  animosity  in 
those  bitter  days. 

1  Private  Papers  of  Lewis  Cass. 


CHAPTER  VI 

MINISTER   TO   FRANCE 

THE  diplomatic  relations  between  France  and 
the  United  States  were  not  altogether  harmonious 
between  1833  and  the  date  of  the  appointment  of 
Cass.  A  successful  treaty,  negotiated  in  1831, 
had  won  from  France  a  promise  to  pay  for  the 
Napoleonic  spoliations  of  American  commerce. 
The  United  States  had  long  awaited  the  time 
when  their  rights  in  this  matter  would  be  fairly 
considered,  until  patience,  long  continued,  was  in 
danger  of  being  construed  as  timidity.  Under 
Jackson's  sway,  however,  a  new  system  was 
adopted ;  when  our  dignified  demands  for  the  ful 
fillment  of  the  treaty  of  1831  were  disregarded, 
and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  refused  to  pass  the 
appropriation  bill,  the  President  stormed  in  the 
White  House,  and  the  shrill  voice  of  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  heard  in  Congress  calling  upon  the 
people  to  resent  a  wanton  insult  and  prepare  the 
country  for  war.  In  January,  1835,  the  French 
minister  at  Washington  was  recalled,  and  in 
April  Livingston  left  Paris.  But  judicious  and 
expressive  threats  had  the  proper  effect.  The 
money  was  paid.  Louis  Philippe  sat  on  a  totter- 


168  LEWIS  CASS 

ing  throne,  and  lie  knew  that  a  war  with  America 
would  deprive  him  of  popular  support.  He  had, 
moreover,  a  real  affection  for  the  republic,  and  an 
admiration  for  the  vigorous  old  warrior  of  the 
White  House,  who  so  fully  represented  self-confi 
dent  democracy.  The  "  bourgeois  king  "  had  vis 
ited  America  in  his  earlier  days,  and  had  become 
personally  acquainted  with  men  and  manners.  A 
tour  through  the  backwoods  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  brought  to  him  a  knowledge  of  the  rough 
ness,  heartiness,  and  good  fellowship  of  the  demo 
cratic  West,  and  he  retained  a  kingly  sympathy 
and  a  generous  enthusiasm  for  whole-souled  West 
ern  uncouthness  and  the  virile  Americanism  which 
Jackson  personified. 

Cass  continued  to  perform  the  duties  of  secre 
tary  of  war  through  the  summer  of  1836,  and  in 
October  sailed  for  England,  there  to  remain  until 
assured  that  an  American  minister  would  be  re 
ceived  in  France.  After  a  brief  delay  on  this 
account,  he  repaired  to  Paris  and  entered  upon 
his  duties.  The  ordinary  affairs  of  the  legation 
occupied  his  attention  for  some  time.  Business 
had  accumulated  during  the  suspension  of  diplo 
matic  relations,  and  it  now  demanded  immediate 
settlement.  But  a  minister's  chief  function  in 
peaceful  times  is  to  be  the  representative  of  his 
country  at  court,  and  to  care  for  the  social  as  well 
as  the  more  material  interests  of  itinerant  fellow- 
countrymen.  Even  in  those  days  this  was  no 
slight  task.  Sometimes  in  a  single  evening  he 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  169 

presented  as  many  as  fifty  of  his  countrymen  to 
the  "citizen  king."  American  visitors  in  Paris 
at  this  time  spoke  of  the  respectful  attention  they 
received  from  the  legation.  The  plain,  straight 
forward  diplomat  from  the  wilds  of  the  Northwest, 
whose  victories  in  the  crooked  and  narrow  art  had 
hitherto  been  won  over  the  red  savage  of  the  West 
ern  woods,  quickly  assumed  a  prominent  and  in 
fluential  position  at  the  gay  capital.  It  looked  as 
if  the  days  when  Franklin  received  the  admiration 
of  the  gaudy  court,  or  when  Gouverneur  Morris 
practiced  his  charms,  had  returned.  The  minister 
became  the  personal  friend  of  the  king,  and  was 
treated  as  an  intimate. 

Actual  business  of  the  embassy  was  not  so  con 
fining  that  no  opportunity  was  left  for  other  pur 
suits.  The  peculiarities  of  European  life  and  pol 
itics  possessed  a  unique  interest  for  one  whose 
general  reading  had  never  been  supplemented  by 
travel  or  a  wide  experience.  Nothing  seemed  to 
escape  him.  His  pen  was  at  work  a  good  portion 
of  the  time,  making  his  impressions  permanent. 
The  ineffectual  uneasiness  of  the  French  people 
as  he  now  saw  them,  and  the  misunderstandings 
between  governors  and  governed,  were  unceasingly 
curious  to  one  who  had  never  known  classes,  and 
whose  whole  political  theory  and  practice  had  been 
based  on  the  principle  of  equality  and  the  rights 
of  self-government.  In  a  real  scientific  spirit  he 
traveled  through  France,  noticing  the  condition  of 
the  people  and  learning  continual  lessons.  He 


170  LEWIS  CASS 

visited  England,  but  a  nearer  acquaintance  did 
not  deprive  him  of  that  deep-rooted  suspicion  and 
distrust  which  are  so  evident  in  all  his  public 
career.  He  saw  Victoria  crowned  as  queen.  But 
all  the  splendor  of  court  seemed  only  to  harden 
and  sharpen  his  democratic  loyalty.  He  carried 
his  criticism  of  English  aristocratic  life  to  an 
absurd  extent.  He  belonged  to  the  school  of 
triumphant  democracy.  The  crass  ignorance  of 
the  English  concerning  American  life,  and  the 
unfriendly  criticism  of  their  captious  travelers, 
filled  him  with  an  indignation  which  now  is  quite 
amusing. 

In  accordance  with  the  understanding  at  the 
time  of  his  appointment,  he  left  his  post  at  Paris 
for  his  vacation.  In  May,  1837,  he  set  sail  with 
his  family  from  Marseilles  on  boiard  the  old  fri 
gate,  The  Constitution,  commanded  by  Commo 
dore  Elliot.  A  description  of  his  itinerary  would 
now  be  uninteresting,  but  to  him  the  journey  gave 
the  greatest  pleasure.  Naturally  of  a  philosophic 
and  scholarly  turn,  he  experienced  the  delight 
of  the  philosopher  and  scholar  in  visiting  places 
of  historical  and  archaeological  interest.  On  the 
other  hand,  his  strong  practical  sense  and  his 
sympathy  for  humanity  prevented  him  from  losing 
himself  in  the  admiration  of  past  glories,  when 
political  wrongs  and  social  evils  and  stagnation 
everywhere  met  his  eyes.  He  admired  the  beau 
ties  of  Italy  and  Greece,  but  they  taught  him  a 
lesson  for  America.  Everything  possessed  for 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  171 

him  a  present  and  a  human  interest :  no  palace  or 
hovel  or  beautiful  landscape  won  his  attention 
because  of  mere  picturesqueness,  or  lost  for  him 
its  peculiar  place  in  the  life  and  history  of  man. 
Greece  and  Italy  furnished  him  an  opportunity 
for  studying  the  real  humanities,  —  not  their  dead 
languages,  but  the  places  these  nations  had  act 
ually  held  and  were  holding  in  the  great  drama  of 
the  world's  history,  whose  denouement  he  believed 
would  be  the  complete  freedom,  the  ideal  liberty. 
He  saw  in  the  Parthenon  more  than  a  relic  and 
a  ruin;  he  mused  over  Salamis  and  Marathon 
without  shadowy  romanticism,  for  h?  saw  before 
him  spots  where  the  destiny  of  Europe  was  de 
cided.  Delphi  itself  appealed  to  no  shallow  im 
agination,  but  awakened  thoughts  of  the  eternal 
power  of  God,  and  the  shifting,  transient  nature 
of  the  works  of  man.  "  Parnassus  indeed  is  there, 
with  the  clouds  resting  on  its  snowy  summit,  and 
the  blue  waves  of  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  rolling  at 
its  feet,  in  a  stream  as  bright  and  clear  as  when 
its  waters  purified  the  persons  of  the  ministers  and 
votaries  of  the  temple,  but  could  not  cleanse  their 
hearts  from  a  debasing  superstition.  But  these 
are  the  works  of  God  which  mock  the  pride  of 
man  and  bid  defiance  to  his  power,  witnesses  of 
change  themselves  unchangeable." 

By  special  permission  from  the  Sultan  the  Amer 
ican  frigate  sailed  to  Constantinople  and  on  into 
the  Black  Sea.  The  travelers  stood  in  the  shadow 
of  St.  Sophia;  and  here  again  the  teachings  of 


172  LEWIS  CASS 

sacred  and  profane  history  were  emphasized  and 
illustrated.  A  sail  through  the  ^Egean  recalled 
the  beauties  and  the  grandeur  of  the  "inland  seas," 
and  there  came  vividly  to  the  mind  of  Cass  another 
scene,  when  through  the  islands  at  the  north  of 
Michigan  wound  a  fleet  of  three  hundred  Indian 
canoes.  There  is  something  pathetic  in  the  way 
in  which,  amid  scenes  of  unbroken  interest  or 
magnificence,  his  mind  continually  reverted  to  the 
rough  picturesqueness  and  daring  life  of  the  fron 
tier.  The  JEgean  suggested  similarities,  the  pal 
ace  at  St.  Cloud  contrasts.  At  the  age  of  fifty- 
five  he  was  becoming  acquainted  with  a  broader 
world;  with  a  wider  retrospect  he  was  preparing 
for  twenty  years  of  political  conflict.  Egypt  and 
Palestine  were  included  in  the  journey,  and  the 
Pyramids  and  the  Jordan  encouraged  more  mono 
logue  ;  which,  it  must  be  confessed,  partook  some 
what  extravagantly  of  the  stilted  grandiloquence 
common  to  the  rhetoric  of  fifty  years  ago.  A 
visit  to  the  islands  of  Candia  and  Cyprus  called 
out  two  interesting  articles,  which  were  sent  to 
the  "Southern  Literary  Messenger,"  published  at 
Richmond.  These  are  full  of  historic  information 
and  of  practical  philosophy,  for  after  all  Cass  was 
a  scholar  to  the  end  rather  than  a  political  trick 
ster,  and  nothing  shows  his  scholarly  inclinations 
more  than  the  trip  to  the  old  East. 

In  November,  1837,  the  general  returned  to 
Paris,  invigorated  in  body  and  mind.  For  some 
time  no  very  important  diplomatic  problems  were 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  173 

presented  for  solution,  and  the  time  was  employed 
in  a  study  of  French  manners  and  political  condi 
tions.  As  has  already  been  said,  the  king  became 
a  close  friend  of  the  American  minister,  so  inti 
mate,  indeed,  that  the  other  ambassadors  are  re 
ported  to  have  been  jealous  of  the  undue  influence 
of  the  republican  representative.  Louis  Philippe 
was  an  affable  and  courteous  man,  possessed  of 
a  wonderful  store  of  knowledge,  and  he  won  the 
admiration  and  even  affection  of  Cass.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  citizen  king  had  many  noble 
qualities.  His  shabby  treatment  of  Gouverneur 
Morris,  who  furnished  him  with  funds  for  his 
travels  in  America,  and  gave  him  unlimited  credit 
with  his  own  New  York  banker,  is  not  a  complete 
index  to  his  character.  There  was  much  in  him 
that  merited  admiration,  though  he  had  some  bour 
geois  propensities  and  certain  tendencies  to  small- 
ness  where  a  greater  breadth  was  to  be  expected. 
And  yet  he  was  a  real  king,  and  his  grasp  of 
affairs  often  belied  the  maxim  of  the  doctrinaires, 
that  the  king  reigns  but  does  not  rule.  Thiers 
served  him  with  his  brilliance  and  Guizot  with  his 
philosophic  wisdom,  but  the  constitutional  "King 
of  the  French  "  did  not  always  give  himself  up  to 
their  guidance.  Physical  courage  he  did  not  lack, 
but  he  seems  to  have  needed  political  energy, 
promptness,  and  decision.  This  weakness  after 
ward  showed  itself  in  the  evil  days  of  February, 
1848,  when  too  complacently  he  yielded  to  insur 
rection,  and  gave  up  his  crown,  soon  to  be  seized 


174  LEWIS  CASS 

by  one  with  more  cunning  and  with  more  relent 
less  ambition. 

The  happiness  of  the  domestic  life  of  the  king 
and  his  personal  attractions  blinded  Cass  to  politi 
cal  faults.  He  had  begun  to  take  notes  of  his 
impressions  of  France  and  Europe  when  he  came 
to  Paris,  and  he  now  published  in  an  American 
periodical  an  account  of  the  life  of  King  Louis 
Philippe,  with  a  commentary  on  French  govern 
ment  and  the  conditions  of  the  people.  In  1840 
these  articles  were  published  in  New  York  in  book 
form,  with  the  title  "France,  its  King,  Court, 
and  Government.  By  an  American."  The  book 
has  many  merits.  It  recounts  the  life  of  Louis 
Philippe  in  his  early  days  of  adversity,  when  he 
fled  from  revolutionary  France ;  it  relates  his  trav 
els  in  an  easy  flowing  narrative,  and  gives  an  at 
tractive  picture  of  his  wanderings  in  America  and 
his  visit  to  the  Western  country  with  which  the 
writer  was  so  well  acquainted.  There  is  a  vein 
of  pleasantry  and  humor  in  this  portion  of  the 
story,  though  Cass  by  mental  construction  was  ill 
adapted  to  light  and  vivacious  description ;  never 
theless  certain  aspects  of  Western  life  are  presented 
with  vividness,  and  there  is  the  charm  which 
always  comes  with  the  tale  of  one  who  writes  of 
what  he  knows  and  loves.  The  later  life  of  the 
king  and  his  character  are  set  forth  in  an  interest 
ing  fashion.  The  description  of  political  France 
of  fifty  years  ago  gives  the  book  lasting  historic 
value.  It  is  apparent  that  he  had  peered  with  no 


MINISTER  TO   FRANCE  175 

careless  glance  into  the  woeful  depths  of  seething 
Paris;  that  he  appreciated  the  uneasiness  and  dis 
content  of  its  hidden  life,  that  from  the  standpoint 
of  happy  democracy  he  could  judge  with  pecul 
iar  advantage  the  fruitless  longings  and  insensate 
clamorings  of  the  people  who  did  not  know  the 
good  they  had,  and  sought  what  they  could  not  use. 
"God  be  praised!"  wrote  Cass,  "we  have  no 
Paris,  with  its  powerful  influence  and  its  inflam 
mable  materials.  He  who  occupies  the  lowliest 
cabin  upon  the  very  verge  of  civilization  has  just 
as  important  a  part  to  play  in  the  fate  of  our 
country  as  the  denizen  of  the  proudest  city  in  the 
land." 

From  such  observations  and  studies  as  these, 
Cass  was  called  to  important  diplomatic  duties. 
For  some  time  England  and  the  United  States 
had  been  giving  each  other  the  retort  courteous, 
from  which  the  next  step  is  the  cut  direct.  The 
northeastern  boundary  question  had  become  an 
active  stimulant  to  disorder.  Maine  would  not  be 
robbed,  and  Canada  would  not  be  cheated.  Even 
more  serious  complications  had  arisen,  growing 
out  of  the  Canadian  rebellion  of  1837  and  the 
turbulence  in  western  New  York  consequent  upon 
it.  At  that  time  an  invasion  of  the  province  was 
threatened  by  some  fugitives  and  by  American 
sympathizers.  A  small  steamer,  the  Caroline,  was 
to  be  used  for  this  purpose,  but  when  lying  at 
the  American  shore  in  the  Niagara  River  she  was 
seized  by  an  expedition  from  Canada  and  sent 


176  LEWIS  CASS 

over  the  falls.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States 
was  killed  in  the  affray,  and  the  excitement  did 
not  die  out  in  a  moment.  Three  years  later  Alex 
ander  McLeod  came  from  Canada  to  New  York, 
and  openly  claimed  the  honor  of  having  killed 
the  American.  He  was  at  once  arrested  on  the 
charge  of  murder,  and  held  for  trial.  His  deten 
tion  immediately  became  a  serious  diplomatic  dif 
ficulty.  Lord  Palmerston  demanded  McLeod 's 
release.  Our  government  had  not  charge  of  the 
prisoner  and  could  not  surrender  him,  for  Gov 
ernor  Seward  positively  refused  to  renounce  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  Eng 
lish  now  acknowledged  the  Caroline  affair  as  an 
international  one,  and  assumed  the  position  that 
not  McLeod,  but  the  British  government  was  re 
sponsible,  if  any  breach  of  law  had  been  commit 
ted.  It  looked  in  the  early  part  of  1841  as  if  war 
with  Great  Britain  was  imminent.  "If  he  should 
be  condemned  we  must  throw  away  the  scabbard," 
wrote  Mr.  Harcourt,  in  March.  Upon  Webster, 
who  had  been  called  to  the  foreign  office  by  Har 
rison,  and  retained  in  his  position  when  Tyler  be 
came  President,  devolved  the  task  of  guiding  the 
country  through  the  difficulties  which  now  beset 
it. 

Cass  had  a  point  of  vantage  from  which  to  view 
European  affairs  and  to  watch  the  shifting  clouds 
of  war  and  politics.  Even  Stevenson  at  the  Court 
of  St.  James  did  not  have  such  extra-official  means 
of  discovering  the  popular  sentiment  of  England 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  177 

as  were  furnished  to  Cass  by  the  English  colony 
at  Paris.  On  March  5,  1841,  Cass  wrote  to 
Webster  that  he  had  reliable  information  that  the 
English  fleet  was  preparing  for  the  order  to  sail 
to  Halifax.  "Of  one  thing  I  am  sure:  there  is 
a  bad  feeling  against  us  in  England,  and  this  feel 
ing  is  daily  and  manifestly  augmenting."  The 
terrible  efficiency  of  the  steam  frigates,  with  their 
heavy  guns  "carrying  balls  weighing  from  sixty  to 
a  hundred  pounds,"1  warned  defenseless  America 
to  forge  her  coat  of  mail.  Ten  days  after  this 
first  warning  another  letter  was  sent  relating  in 
confidence  the  substance  of  several  interviews  with 
the  king,  who  asserted  that  the  French  antipathy 
to  England  would  implicate  France  in  the  war  if 
it  were  once  begun.  The  hostility  to  England 
entertained  by  our  minister  to  France  was  begin 
ning  to  affect  his  speech  a  little.  There  was  no 
need  of  his  announcing  to  Webster,  in  a  strident 
missive,  that  the  English  were  the  "most  credu 
lous  people  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  in  all  that 
concerns  their  own  wishes  or  pretensions;"  that 
they  were  "always  right  and  everybody  else  wrong." 
He  added  advice :  "  Bend  all  your  effort  to  steam. 
Equip  all  the  steam  vessels  you  can."  Webster 
already  appreciated  the  danger,  and  such  peremp 
tory  language  was  a  little  beyond  the  margin  of 
good  taste  and  discretion.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  Webster  resented  it  at  the  time,  but  when  an 
opportunity  for  retaliation  offered  itself  he  seized 
1  Curtis,  Life  of  Daniel  Webster,  vol.  ii.  p.  63. 


178  LEWIS  CASS 

upon  it  in  a  manner  which  suggests  the  energy  of 
accumulated  resentment. 

In  good  season  all  danger  of  war  from  this 
affair  disappeared,  when  McLeod  was  acquitted 
by  a  jury  in  New  York,  in  October,  1841. 

The  winter  of  1842  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  Cass's  diplomatic  career;  it  was  also  the 
beginning  of  a  new  period  in  his  life,  the  interpre 
tation  of  which  requires  patient  discrimination. 
Did  he  from  this  time  on  consciously  endeavor  to 
reach  the  presidential  chair  by  any  and  all  means? 
Are  his  acts  all  to  be  read  in  the  light  of  a  con 
suming  ambition?  Did  he  henceforth  stifle  his 
conscience  and  give  up  his  principles  in  exchange 
for  the  political  support  of  the  slaveholder?  The 
slavery  question  was  fairly  in  politics.  The  slave- 
baron  had  catechised  Van  Buren  when  he  came 
before  the  people  for  election.  The  nefarious  gag 
laws  had  aroused  Northern  indignation.  The  ex 
treme  abolitionists  were  continuing  their  crusade 
with  wonted  vehemence  and  fanatical  vigor.  But 
the  day  had  gone  by  when  Garrison  could  be 
dragged  through  the  streets  of  Boston  at  the  end 
of  a  halter,  or  Prudence  Crandall  insulted  and  im 
poverished  in  puritanic  Connecticut.  In  the  waver 
ing  North  the  ultra-abolitionist  was  allowed  in 
peace  to  denounce  the  Constitution  as  "a  covenant 
with  death  and  an  agreement  with  hell."  The  mod 
erate  abolitionists,  at  the  same  time,  prepared  to 
fight  with  the  ballot  in  accordance  with  rule  and 
reason.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  sound  and  non- 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  179 

sense  of  the  "hard  cider"  campaign  of  1840  little 
attention  was  paid  to  the  nominees  of  the  Liberty 
party.  For  them  a  vote  was  cast  so  trifling  that 
it  scarcely  caused  a  ripple  on  the  placid  satisfac 
tion  with  which  the  country  welcomed  the  election 
of  plain  "Old  Tip."  But  the  slavery  question 
was  fairly  in  politics.  Henceforth  a  candidate 
for  favors  must  run  the  gauntlet  for  Southern  in 
spection,  and  soon  for  Northern  investigation  as 
well. 

In  December,  1841,  the  representatives  of  Eng 
land,  France,  Prussia,  Russia,  and  Austria,  high 
contracting  parties  at  London,  entered  into  a 
treaty  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade.  The 
cruisers  of  each  nation  were  accorded  the  right  to 
detain  and  search  vessels  belonging  to  any  one  of 
the  others,  if  such  vessel  should  "on  reasonable 
grounds  be  suspected  of  being  engaged  in  the 
traffic  in  slaves."  Inasmuch  as  English  ships  of 
war  outnumbered  those  of  the  other  countries,  this 
gave  to  England  special  facilities  for  checking  this 
traffic,  against  which  she  had  proclaimed  a  war  to 
the  knife.  Moreover  the  treaty  was  a  pretentious 
and  suspicious  formality,  for  the  Mediterranean 
was  specially  excluded,  and  no  ship  belonging  to 
Russia,  Austria,  or  Prussia  had  ever  been  engaged 
in  the  slave  trade,  or  been  interfered  with,  on  that 
charge,  by  British  vessels.  That  England  had 
the  motive  of  bolstering  up  her  claims  to  search 
and  visitation  seems,  therefore,  undeniable.  Cass 
was  uneasy.  The  people  whom  he  hated  had 


180  LEWIS  CASS 

gained  possession  of  a  leverage.  Stimulated  by 
his  antipathy  his  imagination  conjured  up  evils  to 
come.  On  February  1,  1842,  a  pamphlet  from 
his  pen  was  published  in  Paris,  inveighing  against 
the  treaty  and  attempting  to  infer  the  purpose  of 
England  from  her  past  assumption  of  right.  It 
bore  the  title,  "An  Examination  of  the  Question, 
now  in  Discussion,  between  the  American  and 
British  Governments,  concerning  the  Right  of 
Search,  by  an  American,"  and  had  for  a  motto, 
"'  When  we  doubted,  we  took  the  trick.'  London 
Times,  January,  1842."  The  pamphlet  contained 
a  discussion  of  the  whole  question  of  the  right  of 
search,  showing  the  insolence  of  Britain  in  the 
past,  her  steady  progress  toward  dominion  on  the 
sea,  and  the  reasons  for  fearing  that  the  quintuple 
treaty  was  simply  another  step  toward  a  consum 
mation  she  so  devoutly  wished.  The  suspicions 
of  the  design  of  England  were  perhaps  partly 
unfounded;  but  she  had  no  right  to  complain 
because  she  was  suspected.  Lord  Brougham,  in 
the  House  of  Lords  (February  21,  1842),  an 
nounced  that  the  sole  wish  of  England  was  "to 
see  the  infernal  slave  traffic  put  down,"  and  that 
"any  general  right  of  search,"  or  any  object  ex 
cept  the  prevention  of  slave  trade  in  Africa  was 
not  sought  or  contemplated.1  We  now  may  do 
England  more  justice  than  Cass  could  then  do 
her.  But  in  view  of  all  her  conduct,  then  fresh 
in  men's  minds,  the  United  States  was  bound  to 

1  Hansard's  Parliamentary  Debates,  vol.  Ix.  p.  718. 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  181 

object  to  such  apparent  justification  by  the  other 
four  great  nations  of  Europe. 

The  pamphlet  was  received  with  approbation  in 
America.  Niles  printed  the  document  in  full,  to 
the  exclusion  of  "other  matter,"  remarking  that 
it  was  "attributed  to  the  pen  of  our  vigilant  and 
talented  minister  at  the  French  court." 

On  February  13  a  protest  against  the  concur 
rence  of  the  French  government  in  the  quintuple 
treaty  was  written  at  the  American  legation  at 
Paris  and  transmitted  to  M.  Guizot,  minister  of 
foreign  affairs.  This  asserted  that  England  had 
recently  been  vigorously  claiming  the  right  to 
enter  and  examine  American  vessels  for  the  pur 
pose  of  ascertaining  their  nationality;  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  treaty  under  consideration  might  seem 
to  sanction  this  right  claimed  by  one  of  the  con 
tracting  parties.  "The  United  States,"  it  contin 
ued,  "do  not  fear  that  any  such  united  attempts 
will  be  made  upon  their  independence.  What, 
however,  they  may  reasonably  fear  is  that  in  the 
execution  of  this  treaty  measures  will  be  taken 
which  they  must  resist."  The  appeal  to  French 
jealousy  of  England,  the  covert  intimation  that 
war  might  ensue,  —  "  one  of  those  desperate  strug 
gles  which  have  sometimes  occurred  in  the  history 
of  the  world,"  —  sufficed  to  turn  France  into  oppo 
sition,  and  she  refused  to  ratify  the  treaty.  The 
sensitive  French  people  felt  that  England  was  far 
too  condescending;  and,  moreover,  France  had 
her  own  sweet  sins;  for  many  of  her  southern 


182  LEWIS  CASS 

ports  had  more  than  a  vicarious  interest  in  the 
remunerative  traffic.  Not  till  1845  did  the  two 
countries  agree  to  keep  an  effective  double  fleet 
on  the  coast  of  Africa  to  crush  the  trade,  a  plan 
which,  it  will  be  seen,  was  an  imitation  of  the 
one  adopted  by  America  in  1842.  England  was 
greatly  annoyed  at  the  withdrawal  of  France. 
Lord  Brougham  attacked  Cass  as  a  leader  of  low 
American  democracy  pandering  to  mob  jealousy 
of  England.  Wheaton,  however,  asserted  that 
the  treaty  of  Washington  was  the  determining  in 
fluence  which  brought  about  the  rejection  of  the 
treaty  by  France,  and  Webster  and  Cass  after 
wards  had  a  spirited  controversy  on  the  subject  in 
the  Senate,1  in  April,  1846. 

The  American  government  sanctioned  the  pro 
test  which  Cass  had  sent  Guizot  on  his  own  autho 
rity,  and  accepted  its  doctrines.  "Tyler  too," 
the  quasi-Whig,  who  had  been  borne  into  office 
with  Democratic  luggage  in  the  whirlwind  of  pop 
ular  enthusiasm  for  Harrison,  and  was  now  ruling 
in  solitary  state,  a  president  without  a  party,  was 
not  the  man  to  object  because  of  too  much  zeal 
for  slavery.  Webster,  although  he  publicly  ap 
proved,  looked  somewhat  askance  at  the  pamphlet 
and  protest,  and  privately  commented  severely  on 
the  conduct  of  both  Cass  and  Stevenson.  "They 
thought,"  he  said,  "to  make  great  political  head 
way  upon  a  popular  gale."2  Even  the  pamphlet 

1  Congressional  Globe,  1st  Session,  28th  Congress,  p.  627. 

2  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  vol.  xi.  p.  243. 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  183 

he  declared  "quite  inconclusive"  as  a  "piece  of 
law  logic,"  however  distinguished  it  might  be  for 
ardent  American  feeling.1  History,  however,  has 
proved  the  reverse.  All  flat  denunciations  of 
search  and  visitation  were  unsuccessful,  while  the 
inconclusive  "law  logic"  of  Cass  has  become  a 
recognized  rule  in  international  law.  He  plainly 
propounded  a  principle  which  Mr.  Webster  seem 
ingly  failed  to  grasp,  although  it  is  the  only  rea 
sonable  and  sensible  ground  for  determining  such 
difficulties.  It  would  not  do  to  declare :  "  If  you 
touch  our  vessels  we  will  fight."  Were  we  to  pro 
tect  every  piratical  slaver  which  insolently  raised 
our  flag?  The  principle,  as  laid  down  in  the 
pamphlet,  and  years  afterward,  through  the  efforts 
of  Cass,  acknowledged  by  England  to  be  correct, 
was  simply  this :  you  have  no  right  to  touch  our 
vessels  on  the  high  seas;  if  you'  suspect  that  a 
vessel  carrying  our  flag  is  not  entitled  to  it,  you 
examine  her  papers  at  your  peril;  if  you  are  mis 
taken,  you  must  answer  to  the  American  govern 
ment.  This  reasoning  underlies  the  whole  com 
mon  law,  and  Mr.  Webster  ought  to  have  been 
wiser  than  to  sneer  at  it. 

In  political  circles  in  America  the  action  was 
widely  discussed.  Adams  called  Cass's  protest 
"absurd,"  and  finally  poured  out  upon  it  one  of 
those  pieces  of  venomous  resentment  which  some 
times  issued  from  him  when  the  thought  of  the 
iniquity  of  slavery  caused  the  old  man's  blood  to 
1  Curtis's  Life  of  Daniel  Webster,  vol.  ii.  p.  118. 


184  LEWIS  CASS 

boil.  He  wrote:  "Cass's  Protest  of  the  13th  of 
February,  1842,  against  the  ratification  by  France 
of  the  treaty  signed  and  sealed  by  her  own  ambas 
sador,  is  a  compound  of  Yankee  cunning,  of  Ital 
ian  perfidy,  and  of  French  legerete,  cemented  by 
shameless  profligacy,  unparalleled  in  American 
diplomacy.  Tyler's  approval  of  it  is  at  once  dis 
honest,  mean,  insincere,  and  hollow-hearted."1 

There  was,  however,  great  diplomatic  wisdom 
in  the  movement.  Tyler  wrote  to  Webster  that 
he  had  "risen  from  the  perusal  of  the  foreign 
newspapers  with  a  feeling  essentially  in  favor  of 
General  Cass's  course."  "The  message  has  been 
the  basis  of  his  movements,  and  the  refusal  of 
France  to  ratify  the  treaty  of  the  five  powers  gives 
us  more  sea-room  with  Lord  Ashburton.  .  .  . 
The  '  Times '  of  London  assumed  a  tone  which 
looked  confoundedly  as  if  the  ratification  by  the 
five  powers  was  afterward  to  be  proclaimed  as 
equivalent  to  the  establishment  of  a  new  rule  of 
national  law."2  There  was  exultation  in  more 
than  one  quarter.  "For  the  first  time  in  our  his 
tory,"  wrote  Wheaton  from  Berlin,  "could  it  be 
said  that  the  American  government  had  exerted 
an  influence  on  the  policy  of  Europe."3  The  wis 
dom  of  the  action  can  be  determined  only  by  a 
consideration  of  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  It 
is  easy  enough  now  to  hurl  invectives  because  our 

1  Memoirs,  vol.  xi.  p.  338. 

2  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  vol.  ii.  p.  233. 
8  Quoted  ibid. 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  185 

foreign  minister  interfered  with  a  treaty,  the  os 
tensible  intent  of  which  was  to  check  the  slave 
trade.  It  is  easy  enough  to  attribute  it  all  to  the 
craving  ambition  of  a  crafty  "log  roller,"  as  does 
Von  Hoist.1  "The  scheming  political  '  log  roller,' 
with  a  high  aim  at  the  object  of  his  own  personal 
ambition,  and  the  hot  temperament  of  the  would-be 
great  man  of  mediocre  endowments  and  mediocre 
education,  cooperated  to  give  such  a  form  to  the 
effusions  of  the  ardent  patriot  that  Adams's  hard 
judgment  upon  them  seems  scarcely  exaggerated." 
This  keen  German  critic  of  our  country's  history, 
who  has  so  shrewdly  interpreted  and  so  skillfully 
arranged  his  facts,  has  frequently  failed  to  pierce 
into  American  popular  feeling  and  emotion ;  more 
over,  an  affectionate  regard  for  Adams  has  often 
blinded  him  to  the  faults  of  the  noble  old  man, 
and  a  bitter  entry  in  a  diary  replete  with  denun 
ciation  has  been  taken  as  temperate  criticism.  No 
one  can  estimate  too  highly  the  life  and  work  of 
that  last  of  the  Puritans;  but  he  who  writes  his 
tory  by  the  fitful  light  of  such  comment  will  see 
but  darkly. 

The  prime  motive  for  the  action  of  Cass  in  this 
affair  was  his  inveterate  dislike  and  distrust  of 
England,  sentiments  which  he  had  good  cause  to 
entertain.  It  will  be  remembered  that  not  until 
1839  (less  than  three  years  before  the  date  of  his 
pamphlet)  did  the  English  give  up  their  efforts  in 
the  Northwest,  as  already  described,  and  that  his 
1  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  ii.  p.  489. 


186  LEWIS  CASS 

whole  life  preceding  his  admission  to  Jackson's 
cabinet  had  brought  him  into  antagonism  with 
British  aggression.  Filled  with  pride  for  America 
and  her  institutions,  he  had  met  in  Europe  the 
sneers  and  condescensions  of  English  travelers, 
who  looked  pityingly  upon  his  country  and  with 
qualified  approbation  upon  France.  His  writings 
in  the  early  years  of  his  ministry  shadow  forth  the 
same  suspicion.  Yet  no  one  can  say  decisively 
that  the  slavery  question  did  not  also  move  him. 
The  pamphlet  announced  that  the  writer  was  no 
slaveholder,  that  he  never  had  been,  and  never 
should  be;  but  he  found  his  way  to  the  beaten 
track  of  biblical  justification,  and  pointed  to  Jo 
seph  in  the  bondage  of  Egypt.  A  few  months 
before  his  objection  to  the  treaty  he  had  been 
proposed  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  by  a 
meeting  in  Philadelphia,  and  had  published  in  the 
"Philadelphia  Sentinel"  a  carefully  worded  reply. 
"He  certainly  does  not  in  his  letter,"  says  Niles, 
"court  a  nomination  to  that  office;  but  yet  admits 
that  in  the  contingency  of  being  called  upon  by 
the  general  voice  of  the  Democratic  party  he  would 
not  withhold  his  assent."1  But  even  on  the  sup 
position  that  the  presidential  bee  had  begun  its 
buzzing,  it  is  anticipating  later  political  tactics 
to  suppose  that,  as  the  prime  condition  of  Demo 
cratic  support,  he  threw  himself  into  the  arms 
of  the  slavocracy.  "The  favoring  gale,"  which 
would  waft  him  on  his  way,  was  bold  opposition 

1  Niles,  Ixi.  p.  80,  October  2,  1841. 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  187 

to  England,  ardent  Americanism,  and  evident  dis 
approval  of  forcible  abolition. 

Admitting  as  possible  the  play  of  various  mo 
tives,  it  is  still  true  that  the  pamphlet  and  protest 
were  entirely  justifiable.  England  had  been  assert 
ing  with  renewed  vigor  her  right  of  visitation, 
which  she  now  cleverly  distinguished  from  search, 
and  had  carried  her  principles  into  exasperating 
practice.  Mr.  Eugene  Schuyler,  in  speaking  of 
the  treaty,  has  left  the  weight  of  his  undoubted 
authority  in  favor  of  General  Cass's  action.  "For 
tunately,"  he  writes,  "our  minister  to  Paris  at 
that  time  was  General  Lewis  Cass,  a  man  of  great 
experience,  of  decided  views,  and  who  had  suc 
ceeded  in  obtaining  a  very  intimate  and  friendly 
footing  with  the  French  government."1  This  au 
thor  shows  more  plainly  than  any  one  else  has 
done,  how  the  defense  of  American  rights  on  the 
seas  is  coupled  with  the  name  of  Cass. 

The  Ashburton  treaty  was  signed  at  Washing 
ton  August  9,  1842.  It  was  ratified  by  the  Sen 
ate  August  26,  by  a  vote  of  thirty -nine  to  nine. 
Webster  could  fairly  pride  himself  upon  the  result 
of  the  negotiations;  and  the  approval  of  the  Sen 
ate  seems  very  complimentary  to  his  efforts,  if  one 
considers  his  anomalous  condition.  Even  before 
a  treaty  was  signed,  there  were  clamorous  demands 
for  his  resignation  by  the  Whig  newspapers;  for 
it  was  hard  to  bear  with  equanimity  that  their 
own  giant  should  be  used  to  sustain  the  renegade 
1  American  Diplomacy  and  the  Furtherance  of  Commerce,  p.  252. 


188 


LEWIS  CASS 


Whig  who  occupied  the  presidential  chair.  Yet 
Tyler's  own  self -satisfied  suavity,  it  may  be  said, 
had  aided  not  a  little  in  smoothing  out  the  "wrin 
kles  of  negotiation."1  Virginian  though  he  was, 
he  first  suggested  that  each  nation  should  keep  a 
squadron  on  the  coast  of  Africa  to  suppress  the 
slave  trade,2  a  stipulation  which  forms  article 
eight  of  the  treaty.  The  squadrons  were  to  be 
independent  of  each  other,  but  the  two  govern 
ments  agreed,  nevertheless,  to  give  such  orders  to 
the  officers  commanding  the  respective  forces  as 
should  enable  them  "most  effectually  to  act  in 
concert  and  cooperation,  upon  mutual  consulta 
tion,"  as  exigencies  might  arise,  for  the  execution 
of  all  such  orders. 

A  copy  of  the  treaty,  and  the  news  of  its  ratifi 
cation,  reached  Paris  September  17,  and  Cass 
immediately  sent  word  to  his  government  that  he 
could  no  longer  be  useful  in  his  position,  and  that 
his  private  affairs  demanded  his  attention  at  home. 
When  later  he  had  received  letters  and  dispatches 
from  Mr.  Webster  in  relation  to  the  matter,  he 
sent  a  long  communication  in  which  he  complained 
because  there  was  no  renunciation  by  Great  Brit 
ain  of  her  right  of  search.  The  pretensions  of 
the  English  in  this  regard  had  of  late  been  pro 
ductive  of  some  injury.  American  traders  had 
been  stopped  and  searched  with  a  view  to  ascer 
taining  their  real  nationality,  and  whether  or  not 

1  Schouler's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  iv.  p.  403. 

2  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  vol.  ii.  p.  219. 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  189 

they  were  slavers.  Cass  by  his  pamphlet  and 
protest  had  identified  himself  with  the  controversy, 
and  now  that  a  treaty  had  been  made  and  ratified 
he  felt  piqued  that  England  was  not  forced  to 
forego  her  assumption;  his  government  had  not 
gone  so  far  as  he  had  expected,  or  as  his  protest 
had  promised.  He  was  in  an  awkward  position, 
and  he  tried  to  extricate  himself  by  criticising 
Webster  and  by  objecting  to  the  treaty  after  it 
had  been  signed  and  ratified.  His  own  enthusi 
asm  and  sense  had  prompted  him  to  oppose  Great 
Britain,  and  the  President  had  approved  his  con 
duct.  But  now  affairs  had  taken  a  different  turn. 
Resignation  was  open  to  him,  and  a  dignified 
withdrawal  would  have  been  sufficient.  A  bitter 
correspondence,  however,  which  attracted  a  great 
deal  of  attention,  was  begun  between  Cass  and 
Webster.  Adams  wrote  about  it  in  that  bitter 
diary :  "  The  controversy  between  Lewis  Cass  and 
Daniel  Webster  about  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  the 
rights  of  visitation  and  of  search,  and  the  Quin 
tuple  treaty,  still,  with  the  comet,  the  zodiacal 
light,  and  the  Miller ite  prediction  of  the  second 
advent  of  Christ  and  the  end  of  the  world  within 
five  weeks  from  this  day,  continue  to  absorb  much 
of  the  public  and  of  my  attention."  He  compared 
the  "rumpus''  to  the  complaints  of  Silas  Deane 
and  to  Monroe's  famous  attack  upon  the  Washing 
ton  administration. 

The  letters  which  passed  between  the  ex-minis 
ter  and  the  secretary  of  state  have  been  published 


190  LEWIS  CASS 

in  the  public  documents,  and  do  not  need  presen 
tation  here.  The  President  reported  them  in  an 
swer  to  a  request  from  the  Senate.  Cass  insisted 
that  he  was  thrown  into  an  embarrassing  position 
by  Webster's  action,  and  charged  that  the  coun 
try,  through  the  secretary  of  state,  had  stultified 
itself  in  not  making  a  renunciation  of  the  right  of 
visitation  and  search  a  condition  precedent  to  the 
consideration  of  the  matters  which  were  treated 
of  in  the  eighth  article.  He  did  not  directly 
criticise  the  President  and  Senate,  but  announced 
his  belief  that  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  ought 
to  have  been  coupled  with  an  express  denunciation 
of  the  right  of  search.  Webster,  on  the  other 
hand,  asserted  that  no  such  stand  was  needed  on 
our  part,  that  the  Ashburton  treaty  reaffirmed 
and  made  stronger  America's  opposition  to  Eng 
lish  assumption  on  the  seas,  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  relied  on  its  own  power  and 
not  upon  statements  in  treaties  or  conventions. 
Again  Mr.  Webster  ought  to  have  been  wiser. 
Our  vessels  were  being  visited  and  searched  in 
spite  of  our  "power  "  and  our  denial  of  such  a 
right.  Short  of  war,  negotiation  was  the  only 
means  of  obtaining  cessation  of  such  annoyances. 
He  himself  found  it  necessary  to  protest  in  later 
years.  The  odious  right  was  claimed,  and  occa 
sionally  exercised,  by  Great  Britain  for  sixteen 
years,  until  Cass  himself  as  secretary  of  state  took 
up  the  old  argument  of  his  pamphlet  which  Web 
ster  had  deemed  inconclusive,  and  compelled  the 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  191 

English  government  to  recognize  its  cogency  and 
publicly  to  abandon  her  pretensions.  What  Cass 
said  in  these  letters  to  Webster  had  already  been 
suggested  in  the  debates  in  the  Senate,  and  events 
soon  proved  him  "in  the  right  and  Mr.  Web 
ster  in  the  wrong."1  The  secretary  in  this  corre 
spondence  quoted  with  approbation  a  passage  from 
the  President's  message,  which  intimated  that  the 
clause  of  the  treaty  providing  for  cruisers  on 
the  coast  of  Africa  had  removed  "all  pretext  on  the 
part  of  others  for  violating  the  immunities  of  the 
American  flag  on  the  seas."  But  English  states 
men  at  once  repelled  such  an  interpretation.  "Nor 
do  we  understand,"  said  Sir  Robert  Peel,  then 
prime  minister,  "that  in  signing  that  treaty  the 
United  States  could  suppose  that  the  claim  was 
abandoned."  It  was  undoubtedly  unfortunate  that, 
at  a  time  when  the  statement  would  have  carried 
peculiar  force,  Webster  did  not  see  fit  to  announce 
our  unflinching  adherence  to  our  rights. 

In  one  particular  the  ex-minister  was  wholly  at 
a  disadvantage.  The  treaty  as  ratified  was  none 
of  his  special  business,  and  he  was  not  called  upon 
to  denoun.ce  it  except  as  a  private  citizen.  On 
the  other  hand  Webster  was,  as  Sumner  said,  as 
powerful  as  he  was  unamiable,  and  the  lack  of 
good  humor  gave  his  adversary  an  opportunity  for 
effective  retort  which  he  might  otherwise  have 

O 

missed.    The  quarrel  continued  until  March,  1843, 
some  months  after  the  return  of  General  Cass  from 
1  Schuyler's  American  Diplomacy,  p.  255. 


192  LEWIS  CASS 

Paris;  but,  of  course,  nothing  was  accomplished 
by  it.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  this  ill-natured 
controversy  was  of  great  assistance  in  the  race  for 
the  presidency;  probably  it  did  help  a  little,  al 
though  the  people  of  the  country  were,  on  the 
whole,  pretty  well  satisfied  with  the  Ashburton 
settlement,  and  did  not  perceive  the  need  of  a 
bolder  stand  against  English  presumption. 

This  matter  has  heretofore  been  treated  of  in 
a  partisan  mariner.  The  lives  of  Webster  hold 
his  letters  up  for  admiration.  Cass's  letters  ap 
pear  without  their  answers  in  his  biographies. 
Mr.  Peter  Harvey  has  left  us  a  story  in  his 
"  Personal  Keminiscences  and  Anecdotes  of  Daniel 
Webster,"  which  has  found  credence  in  the  minds 
of  more  trustworthy  writers.  According  to  this 
account,  Cass  was  so  overwhelmed  by  the  replies 
of  Webster  to  his  attacks  that  he  confessed  him 
self  beaten,  said  his  position  was  unbearable,  and 
begged  that  he  be  allowed  to  write  another  letter 
to  which  the  secretary  should  promise  to  make  no 
surrejoinder.  This  tale  bears  its  own  refutation 
on  its  face,  but  it  has  been  accepted  even  by  those 
who  have  generally  placed  the  correct  value  on 
Mr.  Harvey's  productions.1  Cass  was  applauded 
and  toasted  for  his  success  in  the  controversy,  and 
it  is  perfectly  clear  that  it  did  not  detract  from 

1  Mr.  Lodge  in  his  life  of  Webster  has  declared  that  "  a  more 
untrustworthy  book  it  would  be  impossible  to  imagine."  Yet  his 
own  admirable  sketch  of  Webster's  career  has  given  new  currency 
to  the  tale. 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  193 

his  popularity  and  the  high  estimation  in  which 
he  was  held  at  the  time.  Moreover  in  recognizing 
him  as  one  of  their  great  leaders  the  Democracy 
accepted  his  attacks  upon  Webster.  He  had  lost 
his  senses,  if  he  whined  for  pity,  as  Harvey  asserts 
that  he  did.  I  have  the  explicit  denial  of  this 
fact  from  Mr.  Charles  E.  Anderson,  who  was 
secretary  of  the  legation  at  Paris,  and  who  knew 
Cass  with  a  keener  appreciation  and  with  a  better 
judgment  than  this  "loving  and  devoted  Boswell" 
knew  Webster. 

"The  sage  of  Marshfield"  was  mighty  in  argu 
ment,  but  Cass  was  well  able  to  hold  his  own. 
His  ability,  of  which  there  cannot  be  the  slightest 
doubt,  his  strength  in  debate,  and  his  power  in 
argument  have  been  greatly  under-estimated  since 
his  death.  The  eulogistic  biographies  which  ap 
peared  in  his  lifetime,  though  not  without  their 
merits,  lack  discrimination  and  lose  the  weight 
belonging  to  judicious  approval.  The  generation 
of  the  Rebellion,  naturally  enough,  is  but  just 
emerging  from  a  state  of  antipathetic  criticism 
of  all  who  were  not  of  the  vehement  antislavery 
school.  Those  still  living,  who  knew  Cass  in  his 
vigor,  are  not  willing  to  admit,  whatever  may 
have  been  their  political  convictions,  that  in  real 
strength  and  capacity,  in  mental  virility  or  acu 
men,  he  was  overmatched  by  any  save  the  very 
greatest  of  his  day.  His  placid,  kindly  disposi 
tion  won  for  him  a  lasting  affection  among  those 
who  knew  him,  and  remembrance  may  have  warped 


194  LEWIS  CASS 

judgment;  but  the  name  of  Cass  recalls  to  an  old 
Michigan  Whig  a  friend  to  be  loved  and  admired, 
and  a  foe  to  be  dreaded.  Of  the  statesmen  of  his 
generation,  only  Webster  surpassed  him  in  pro 
fundity  of  argument.  Calhoun  excelled  him  in 
keenness  and  directness  of  debate.  Clay  outstripped 
him  in  fiery  beauty  of  eloquence  and  in  power  for 
popular  leadership.  Although  he  never  tried  to 
imitate  the  professional  tactics  of  Van  Buren ,,  the 
only  Democratic  leader  comparable  to  him,  he  at 
least  equaled  the  "Little  Magician"  in  all  the 
more  graceful  and  honorable  arts  of  statesmanship. 
The  American  citizens  of  Paris  were  loath  to 
bid  farewell  to  the  representative  of  their  country, 
whose  constant  attention  and  courtesy  they  appre 
ciated.  His  residence  was  elegant  and  attractive. 
"General  Cass's  hotel  is  furnished  sumptuously," 
wrote  Charles  Sumner  in  his  journal.  "The  table 
was  splendid,  and  the  attendance  perfect;  servants 
in  small  clothes  constantly  supplying  you  with 
some  new  luxury.  .  .  .  Mr.  Cass  is  a  man  of 
large  private  fortune,  and  is  said  to  live  in  a  style 
superior  to  that  of  any  minister  ever  sent  by 
America."1  On  November  11  a  public  dinner 
was  given  the  retiring  minister  by  his  resident 
countrymen.  The  expressions  of  regret  at  his 
departure  were  many,  and  seemingly  from  the 
heart.  The  master  of  the  feast  in  his  address 
reminded  the  company  that  they  had  come  to- 

1  Memoirs  and  Letters  of  Charles  Sumner,  by  Edward  L.  Pierce, 
vol.  i.  p.  253. 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE  195 

gether,  without  distinction  of  party,  to  testify 
affectionate  respect  for  their  distinguished  guest. 
Making  due  allowance  for  the  flattering  unction 
of  post-prandial  phrases,  we  still  see  that  the 
news  correspondent  was  right  in  his  message,  which 
announced:  "General  Cass  has  won  all  hearts  at 
Paris.  They  loved  the  man;  they  admired  the 
dauntless  envoy  of  their  country."1  The  speech 
of  General  Cass  in  answer  to  the  toast,  "Honor 
to  our  illustrious  fellow  citizen,  and  a  happy  return 
to  a  grateful  country,"  was  a  finished  piece  of 
declamation  over  the  smiling  Providence  which 
especially  shapes  the  ends  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  His  eloquence  had  the  old-fashioned 
sonorous  quality.  He  offered  none  of  "the  foam 
Aphrodite  of  Bacchus 's  sea,"  nor  the  froth  and 
airy  nothingness  of  modern  after-dinner  speech- 
making.  There  was  little  to  lighten  the  heavy 
rhythm  of  his  sentences.  His  response  was,  as 
his  addresses  usually  were,  scholarly,  philosophic, 
sensible,  and,  above  all,  democratic.  He  could 
continually  strike  the  keynote  of  the  democratic 
anthem,  leaving  the  frivolous  overtones  for  more 
frolicsome  speakers  and  writers.  The  peculiar  vic 
tory  of  Cass  as  the  champion  of  American  rights 
was  applauded  in  the  toast,  "The  sovereignty  of 
the  seas,  common  to  all  nations,  but  exclusive 
under  every  flag." 

Another   chapter   of    the   career   of   Cass   was 
ended.     He  had  conducted  himself  with  rare  dis- 

1  Communication  to  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer. 


196  LEWIS  CASS 

cretion  as  an  American  minister,  and  had  quite 
outdone  himself  as  a  politician.  Diplomatic  mis 
sions  are  usually  dangerous  to  political  ambition, 
for  absence  does  not  make  the  voter's  heart  grow 
fonder;  but  his  six  years'  residence  abroad  had 
increased  his  reputation  and  his  popularity. 


CHAPTER   VII 
A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER.  —  THE  ELECTION  OF  1844 

GENERAL  CASS  left  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Led- 
yard,  as  charge  d'affaires  at  Paris.  After  a 
voyage  of  three  weeks,  not  a  slow  trip  for  those 
times,  he  arrived  in  Boston  on  December  6,  1842. 
The  people  of  the  country  were  ready  to  welcome 
him  with  enthusiasm.  Immediately  upon  his  ar 
rival  the  "citizens  of  New  England,"  in  a  flatter 
ing  letter,  congratulated  him  on  his  safe  return  to 
his  native  country,  "after  faithful  and  energetic 
service  in  an  important  crisis  "  of  his  mission,  and 
asked  for  a  meeting  with  him  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
"the  spot  in  which  of  all  others  America  would 
desire  to  welcome  her  deserving  ones."  He  was 
obliged  by  other  arrangements  to  forego  the  plea 
sure  and  the  profit  of  communion  with  the  political 
spirit  of  New  England,  and  contented  himself 
with  meeting  informally  at  his  hotel  those  who 
wished  to  pay  their  respects  to  him.  In  New 
York  even  greater  honors  awaited  him.  A  new 
luminary  had  been  discovered  by  the  sweeping 
astrolabe  of  the  political  astrologer.  Ignorant  of 
his  fame  and  unappreciative  of  the  popular  curi 
osity,  he  had  intended  to  hurry  on  to  Washington, 


198  LEWIS  CASS 

and  thence  home,  where  business  matters  claimed 
his  immediate  attention.  But  metropolitan  demo 
cracy  has  generally  obtained  what  it  has  sought. 
The  governor's  rooms  were  tendered  him,  and 
there  he  was  received  with  cheers  and  all  the  ap 
probation  of  party  and  patriotic  devotion.  Such 
ceremonies  were  bearding  Van  Buren  in  his  very 
den;  but  as  yet  they  could  be  accounted  for  as 
admiration  for  the  envoy  whose  boldness  had  dig 
nified  America. 

These  evidences  of  popular  approval  in  Northern 
States  prove  that  his  opposition  to  the  quintuple 
treaty  was  not  considered  truckling  to  the  slave 
power.  Although  an  abolitionist  was  still  an  out 
cast,  if  no  longer  an  outlaw,  nevertheless  open 
bidding  for  Southern  favor  or  the  use  of  a  diplo 
matic  mission  for  the  defense  of  slavery  would 
have  been  promptly  resented.  The  political  "boss- 
ism  "  of  the  Southerner  added  a  sting  to  what 
might  have  been  otherwise  harmless.  Indeed  that 
fact  must  be  remembered  through  the  whole  his 
tory  of  the  slavery  question.  Without  doubt  the 
immorality  of  human  bondage  aroused  the  slum 
bering  consciences  of  the  people;  the  shrill  cries 
of  the  fanatic,  the  pleading  eloquence  of  Phillips, 
the  wonderful  bravery  of  Giddings  and  Adams, 
the  incessant  agitation  of  a  subject  which  would 
not  down,  were  more  than  mere  steps  in  a  pro 
gress  toward  united  Northern  sentiment;  they  were 
productive  of  a  thought  which,  in  the  end,  led  the 
people,  rejecting  extravagances,  to  accept  what 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  199 

was  politically  sound  and  morally  right.  But  the 
infamous  three  fifths  compromise  gave  power  to 
the  owner  of  chattels,  and  allowed  the  representa 
tion  of  things;  the  domineering  slave  baron,  in 
the  halls  of  Congress,  kindled  by  his  insolent 
orderings  the  resentment  of  the  "d — d  trading 
Yankee.''  Without  doing  injustice,  therefore,  to 
the  impetus  of  higher  motives,  or  under-estimating 
the  mighty  propelling  power  of  any  moral  move 
ment,  simply  because  it  is  moral,  we  must  admit 
that  very  often,  when  the  North  was  animated  to 
special  effort,  and  when  Northern  representatives 
showed  themselves  persistent  and  energetic,  there 
was  some  current  beside  the  moral  one  holding 
them  to  their  duty,  there  was  an  evident  dislike 
of  the  tactics,  methods,  and  aims  of  the  slave 
holder.  So,  even  if  hatred  of  the  black  sin  of 
the  South  had  as  yet  found  no  broad  resting-place, 
jealousy  of  Southern  dictation,  as  well  as  national 
pride  and  human  shame,  would  have  prevented 
the  people  of  New  York  and  Boston  from  receiv 
ing  with  acclamations  any  one  who  in  their  opin 
ion  had  used  a  diplomatic  office  to  pander  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  slave-owner,  and  had  for  personal 
glory  sought  to  shield  a  piratical  traffic  behind  his 
country's  name  and  his  country's  honor. 

Cass  was  welcomed  at  Washington  by  the  Con 
gressmen  and  satellite  politicians  who  wished  to 
scan  the  face  of  a  new  prophet.  All  the  way  from 
the  capital  to  his  Michigan  home  there  were  ap 
plause  and  curiosity  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  most 


200  LEWIS  CASS 

hungry.  He  did  not  reach  Detroit  until  February 
14,  and  his  way  from  Washington  was  one  tri 
umphal  march.  The  legislatures  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  welcomed  and  honored  him,  and  the 
governors  and  principal  officers  came  out  several 
miles  to  escort  him  to  their  respective  capitals, 
under  the  firing  of  artillery,  ringing  of  bells, 
martial  music,  and  a  general  turnout  of  all  the 
volunteer  militia.  It  is  interesting  to  read  in 
Niles  an  item  recounting  the  popular  enthusiasm 
over  Cass,  and  by  its  side  to  see  another  short 
paragraph  telling  how  Henry  Clay  was  boisterously 
applauded  at  each  step  of  a  journey  through  the 
South.  There  were  warmth  and  color  in  those 
young  days  of  our  country.  There  were  heroes 
and  a  hero  worship  strange  to  us  in  these  later 
days.  A  committee  from  Detroit  met  their  re 
turning  fellow  citizen  at  Ypsilanti,  and  he  was 
conducted  to  his  home  by  the  route  he  had  taken 
thirty  years  before,  when  he  had  hoped  to  escort 
Brush  with  his  supplies  to  the  assistance  of  Hull. 
Nothing  speaks  so  well  for  Cass  as  the  honor  he 
had  at  his  own  home.  The  city  was  enthusiasti 
cally  devoted;  he  was  the  political  Nestor  of  the 
State.  Without  using  the  arts  of  machine  politics 
he  retained  his  hold  on  the  popular  confidence  and 
support,  until  the  later  spirit  of  liberty  demanded 
a  new  leader  inspired  by  the  gospel  of  a  new  dis 
pensation. 

At  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor  soon  after  his 
return  Cass  was  heartily  toasted,   with  the  hope 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  201 

of  adding  another  spark  to  the  kindling  enthusi 
asm  of  the  country.  His  name  was  now  fairly 
before  the  people,  and  letters  began  to  pour  in 
upon  him  asking  him  all  conceivable  questions 
and  propounding  a  series  of  enigmas,  with  the 
intention  of  ascertaining  his  exact  political  belief 
by  the  Socratic  and  Yankee  method  of  discovering 
truth.  Before  Cass  had  reached  Boston,  on  his 
return  from  France,  the  Democratic  Central  Com 
mittee  of  Shelby  County,  Indiana,  summoned  a 
convention  of  all  who  were  in  favor  of  "the  nomi 
nation  of  either  General  Cass  or  Richard  M. 
Johnson."  In  November,  almost  before  the  glare 
of  the  rockets  of  the  congressional  election  had 
faded  away,  a  convention  of  his  friends  in  Harris- 
burg  announced  their  preference  for  Lewis  Cass 
as  the  next  Democratic  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency.  The  "New  York  Herald,"  indorsing  the 
action  of  this  convention,  demanded  new  men  and 
a  new  movement.  The  congressional  election  of 
1842  had  been  unusually  mild  and  sensible,  and 
in  this  sluggish  indisposition  the  "Herald"  saw 
need  for  the  tonic  of  novelty.  None  of  the  old 
leaders  could  longer  awaken  enthusiasm;  "but 
the  movement  now  first  made  in  Pennsylvania 
looks  more  like  the  real  spirit  of  the  people  than 
anything  we  have  seen  of  late.  In  that  State,  and 
in  that  way,  did  the  name  of  Jackson  and  Harri 
son  come  up,  and  carry  all  before  them."  Cass 
was  the  very  man,  this  paper  declared,  who  could 
with  proper  attention  and  effort  be  carried  into 


202  LEWIS   CASS 

the  presidency  with  a  universal  shout  of  acclama 
tion.  The  "Herald"  went  at  it  with  a  will,  issued 
extra  copies,  and  shouted  in  leaded  lines  for  an 
other  hero  of  1812,  believing  that  a  new  Jackson 
was  found  to  lead  the  chosen  Democratic  seed 
back  from  captivity. 

The  Whig  papers,  curious  and  incredulous, 
doubted  the  orthodoxy  of  the  new  candidate,  and 
the  Democrats  desired  to  be  sure  of  him.  Hardly 
had  he  landed  when  a  letter  from  Mahlon  Dicker- 
son,  a  fellow  member  of  Jackson's  cabinet,  was 
sent  asking  him  for  a  full  confession  of  faith. 
The  answer  was  frankly  given.  "I  am  a  member 
of  the  Democratic  party,  and  have  been  so  from 
my  youth.  I  was  called  into  public  life  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  thirty-six  years  ago,  and  am  a  firm  be 
liever  in  the  principles  laid  down  by  him."  Two 
short  paragraphs,  in  addition  to  this  shrewd  state 
ment  of  old  Republican  affiliation,  announced  hos 
tility  to  a  national  bank  and  belief  in  the  saving 
efficacy  of  specie  payment. 

Interrogatories  to  the  various  candidates  before 
the  country  were  issued  by  a  convention  at  Indian 
apolis  early  in  1843.  To  these,  answers  were  sent 
by  Calhoun,  Buchanan,  Johnson,  and  Cass.  All 
sound  the  tocsin  of  faithful  partisanship  with  no 
uncertain  sound.  Even  Calhoun,  long  a  free  lance 
ready  to  strike  at  anything  opposed  to  his  cher 
ished  state  sovereignty  and  organized  anarchy, 
seemed  to  have  temporarily  left  his  nomadic  poli 
tics.  He  replied  that  he  had  no  reason  to  doubt 


A  DEMOCRATIC   LEADER  203 

that  his  friends  would  abide  by  the  decision  of  a 
convention  fairly  summoned  to  express  the  wishes 
of  the  party.  All  this  looked  like  happiness  and 
harmony.  Cass  gave  his  answers  to  the  questions 
at  some  length  and  with  great  good  sense.  Hav 
ing  always  entertained  a  doubt  of  the  constitution 
ality  of  a  bank,  he  now  condemned  it;  the  pro 
ceeds  from  the  sale  of  public  land  should  not  be 
distributed  among  the  States,  because  it  was  sim 
ply  taking  the  money  out  of  one  pocket  to  drop 
it  into  the  other,  and  sums  equal  to  those  dis 
tributed  must  needs  be  raised  again  by  taxation ; 
a  tariff  for  revenue  with  incidental  protection 
should  be  "wisely  and  moderately  established  and 
then  left  to  its  own  operation,  so  that  the  commu 
nity  could  calculate  on  its  reasonable  duration 
and  thus  avoid  ruinous  fluctuations;"  an  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  limiting  the  veto  power 
seemed  at  the  time  unnecessary  and  therefore  in 
expedient.  All  this  constituted  a  sufficiently  good 
platform.  As  affairs  then  stood  the  Democratic 
party  was  without  doubt  lying  quietly  at  good  an 
chorage.  Would  it  be  content  without  the  excite 
ment  and  flurry  of  new  and  momentous  issues? 

On  Jefferson's  birthday  the  Democratic  citizens 
of  Philadelphia  celebrated  the  occasion,  and  Cass 
was  invited  to  be  present.  His  well-worded  letter 
of  regret  was  read  amid  the  enthusiasm  of  those 
present,  and  the  following  toast  was  offered :  "  Gen 
eral  Lewis  Cass,  the  soldier,  the  diplomatist,  and 
the  statesman:  his  correspondence  with  Webster 


204  LEWIS  CASS 

proves  Ms  knowledge  of  the  American  character, 
and  his  ability  to  defend  it."  Lord  Brougham's 
bitter  attack  on  Cass  aided  his  popularity  and  his 
chances  for  nomination.  That  noble  lord  accused 
him  of  debasing  himself  to  pander  to  the  lowest, 
meanest  feeling  of  the  "groveling  and  groundling  " 
politician,  and  asserted  that  he,  an  American  min 
ister,  had  appealed  to  the  hatred  of  England  felt 
by  the  "rabble."  Such  charges  by  a  British  aris 
tocrat  were  sweet  morsels  for  the  democracy  on 
whom  Cass  hoped  to  rely.  In  various  portions 
of  the  country  wires  were  pulled  for  the  new 
Michigan  candidate.  A  friend  in  New  York  in 
sisted  that  the  elective  offices  ought  to  be  divided 
among  the  adherents  of  Cass  and  Calhoun  as  well 
as  of  Van  Buren,  "so  as  to  divide  the  loaves  and 
fishes  party."  Men  in  Pennsylvania,  in  accord 
ance  with  Cass's  desires,  deprecated  the  attacks 
upon  Van  Buren,  lest  such  conduct  might  react 
and  insure  the  persistent  enmity  of  his  followers.1 
Early  in  I84£,  therefore,  eighteen  months  be 
fore  the  day  of  election,  candidates  for  the  Demo 
cratic  nomination  were  fairly  before  the  country 
with  a  careful,  reserved,  and  negative  policy. 
The  only  difficulty  seemed  to  lie  in  the  choice  of 
any  one  of  them  as  standard  bearer.  Many  felt 
that  Van  Buren  had  been  harshly  treated  in  1840, 
and  hoped  that  the  people,  returning  to  reason, 
would  undo  the  riot  of  the  last  campaign  and  put 
the  "Little  Magician"  in  the  White  House  again. 

1  Private  papers  of  Lewis  Cass. 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  205 

He  had  been  a  brave  and  consistent  leader;  and 
had  been  beaten  rather  by  the  financial  distress 
of  the  country  and  the  sins  which  Jackson  had 
visited  upon  him  than  because  of  any  errors  of  his 
own.  But  poetic  justice  is  not  political  justice; 
and  when  once  a  candidate  has  been  defeated  there 
is  a  natural  hesitation  about  sacrificing  party  in 
terest  on  the  altar  of  idealistic  honor.  Moreover 
Van  Buren  had  had  his  turn,  and  of  course  had 
satisfied  only  a  portion  of  the  horde  of  hungry 
officeseekers.  Those  not  satisfied  with  their  share 
of  the  spoils  would  naturally  seek  another  leader, 
from  whom  they  might  expect  to  obtain  their  de 
sires.  If  he  could  not  be  elected  with  prestige 
of  success  to  buoy  him  up,  with  the  power  of  the 
officeholder  to  aid  him,  what  reason  was  there  to 
expect  his  election  after  he  had  been  defeated,  and 
when  the  officeholders  had  nothing  to  gain  and 
everything  to  lose  by  his  election  ?  Although  the 
majority  of  the  party  were  still  favorably  disposed 
towards  him,  therefore,  and  though  many  of  the 
politicians  still  obeyed  the  customary  rein,  and 
did  becoming  homage  to  their  peerless  teacher, 
there  was  good  reason  to  believe  that,  even  if  no 
new  issue  presented  itself,  there  would  be  a  strong 
effort  for  a  new  candidate  in  whom  the  people 
might  imagine  any  and  all  virtues,  and  whose 
unknown  quantity  might  be  substituted  to  solve 
widely  different  problems. 

Buchanan  could  rely  on  the  strong  support  of 
Pennsylvania,   his   own    State.     He   belonged   to 


206  LEWIS  CASS 

the  school  of  the  cautious,  judicious  politicians, 
who  seek  a  safe  retreat  from  worry  and  vexation 
in  a  mild  policy  of  indecision  and  wise  delay. 
Kichard  M.  Johnson  of  Kentucky  was  the  reputed 
slayer  of  Tecumseh.  It  might  be  doubted  whether 
this  fact  of  itself  qualified  him  for  the  presidency ; 
but  that  was  not  the  point  at  issue.  It  unques 
tionably  added  to  his  availability  as  a  nominee. 
He  had  been  a  -convenient  and  obedient  cat's  paw 
for  Jackson,  a  harmless  and  purposeless  vice-presi 
dent  under  Van  Buren,  and  was  now  refreshingly 
frank  anc^  coyly  open  in  the  expression  of  his 
wants ;  he  would  take  either  the  presidency  or  the 
vice-presidency  as  the  party  desired. 

There  was  never  any  real  hope  of  Calhoun's 
nomination.  His  opinions  were  too  dangerously 
evident,  and  he  was  the  enemy  of  the  dying  sage 
at  the  Hermitage.  He  exhibited  unexpected 
strength,  however,  even  in  New  York  where  Van 
Buren  was  supposed  to  dominate  matters ;  for  the 
young  men  of  the  party  admired  the  towering 
ability  of  the  old  nullifier,  who  had  now  appar 
ently  drifted  back  fairly  within  the  headlands  of 
the  Democratic  haven.  The  experienced  voter 
learns  to  estimate  aright  the  superiority  of  medio 
crity  ;  but  the  young  voter  places  too  high  a  valu 
ation  upon  greatness.  Beyond  all,  Calhoun  was 
of  Irish  descent,  and  the  potent  bond  of  Celtic 
sympathy  held  for  him  the  allegiance  of  a  power  ^ 
ful  political  constituency  in  the  great  cities  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  an  element  which  has  never 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  207 

been  addicted  to  fair-weather  voting,  or  to  off- 
year  epidemics,  or  to  despising  the  primary  meet 
ing.  Since  the  days  of  Jefferson  there  has  been 
an  intimacy  between  the  aristocratic  South  and 
the  congested  population  of  Northern  cities,  —  a 
union  based  partly,  perhaps,  on  the  very  name  of 
the  favorite  party ;  partly  on  the  fact  that  Feder 
alists,  Whigs,  and  Republicans  have  represented 
the  tariff,  the  bank,  internal  improvements,  and 
strong  government;  partly  on  the  fact  that  the 
immigrant,  who  has  come  to  the  "land  of  free 
dom,"  gravitates  without  thought  to  the  party 
which  was  born  of  opposition  to  centralization, 
and  was  the  advocate  of  individualism;  partly  on 
the  fact  that  democracy  represents  what  is  peculiar 
to  America,  and  is  forcibly  distinct  from  the  civi 
lization  of  trans- Atlantic  countries,  and  is  there 
fore  attractive  to  him  who  has  shaken  from  his 
feet  the  dust  of  old  association.  At  this  time  the 
foreign  element,  especially  the  Irish,  was  strongly 
Democratic ;  for  the  Whigs  seem  to  have  repelled 
them,  and  driven  them  to  vote  "en  masse  against 
the  candidates  of  the  Whig  party."1  For  immi 
gration  had  begun  and  had  awakened  the  fears  of 
many  Americans.  In  the  fourth  decade  of  the 
century  538,381  emigrants,  and  in  the  fifth  decade 
about  three  times  that  number,  landed  on  our 
coast. 

The  old  competitor  of  the  Democracy  was  in  its 
turn  girding  itself  for  the  race.     There  could  be 

i  W.  H.  Seward's  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  387. 


208  LEWIS  CASS 

no  doubt  who  would  be  its  leader.  The  victory 
of  Harrison  and  Tyler  in  1840  had  proved  but 
a  defeat  for  the  Whigs.  Perhaps  it  was  a  just 
retribution  upon  a  party  which  had  contented  itself 
with  declamation  and  innuendo,  and  had  drawn 
to  itself  all  the  vexed  spirits  and  the  homeless 
malcontents  whose  teeth  had  been  set  on  edge  by 
the  personal  government  of  Jackson  or  the  panic 
of  1837.  With  one  accord  this  conglomerate 
party,  which  disappointment  had  pressed  into  some 
degree  of  coherency,  was  decided  this  time  upon 
the  nomination  of  nobody  of  unknown  principles. 
It  was  already  shouting  for  "Harry  of  the  West," 
who  was  the  very  impersonation  of  Whig  doctrine 
and  desire.  When  a  party  is  unwilling  to  trust 
its  fortunes  and  its  principles  to  its  true  leader, 
and  when  in  the  hour  of  hope  it  deserts  him  on 
whom  it  relies  in  the  hour  of  trial  and  despair,  its 
fortunes  are  without  real  value  and  its  principles 
of  no  worth.  If  one  were  to  seek  for  the  secret 
of  the  cohesion  and  the  permanence  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  he  would  find  it  largely  in  its  devotion 
to  its  leaders  and  its  faith  in  itself. 

There  was  another  party,  whose  presence  in  the 
coming  election  was  to  have  decisive  influence, 
which  remained  unnoticed  in  the  early  days  of 
this  long  campaign.  Reference  has  already  been 
made  to  the  Liberty  party,  composed  of  voting 
abolitionists,  who  had  determined  upon  reaching 
their  ends  by  political  means.  Their  insignificant 
vote  in  1840  had  not  discouraged  them,  and  they 


A  DEMOCRATIC   LEADER  209 

were  again  marshaling  for  the  conflict  with  unsub 
dued  energy  and  enthusiasm.  Northern  opposi 
tion  to  the  "gag  laws"  had  borne  fruit  in  toler 
ance  for  abolitionism.  Adams  and  Giddings,  on 
the  floor  of  Congress,  had  fought  a  good  fight, 
which  had  won  the  admiration  of  the  people.  The 
"old  man  eloquent"  had  lashed  the  slaveholders 
till  they  writhed  in  mingled  anger  and  chagrin, 
and  the  new  Ohio  representative,  censured  by  the 
House  for  presumptuous  resolutions  concerning 
slavery  as  a  "municipal"  and  not  an  international 
institution,  had  resigned  his  seat,  to  be  reflected 
by  an  overwhelming  majority.  These  men  were 
the  prophets  crying  in  the  wilderness,  making 
straight  the  way  for  final  salvation  from  the  curse 
of  slavery.  Adams  was  anticipating  the  creed  of 
the  Republican  party  by  twenty  years,  devoted  to 
the  Union,  opposed  to  the  barbarism  of  the  South, 
prophesying  that  slavery  would  be  engulfed  in  the 
abyss  if  the  Southern  States,  in  the  love  of  their 
sweet  sin,  should  endeavor  to  separate  themselves 
from  the  Union.  Although  neither  of  these  men 
can  be  considered  a  member  in  good  standing  of 
the  Liberty  party  as  a  political  organization,  they 
blazed  the  way  for  constitutional  and  legal  opposi 
tion.  They  attracted  the  attention  of  the  thought 
ful,  and  won  the  respect  and  sympathy  of  the 
generous.  Yet  Birney  himself  fiercely  assaulted 
Adams  in  a  letter  to  his  party,  and  in  the  very 
district  of  the  old  hero  cooperated  with  the  Demo 
crats  to  defeat  him.  It  was  one  of  the  best  in- 


210  LEWIS  CASS 

stances  of  the  way  in  which  principle  sometimes 
runs  away  with  reason,  and  sense  is  smothered  in 
sentiment. 

Of  the  Tyler  faction  there  is  little  to  be  said. 
With  a  great  estimation  of  himself  and  his  popu 
larity  in  the  country,  the  President  seems  actually 
to  have  anticipated  the  support  of  the  people.  He 
had  turned  his  back  on  every  Whig  measure  and 
read  every  Whig  guide-post  backward,  until  at 
the  end  of  his  administration  he  had  passed  by 
even  ultra-Democracy,  and  was  hand  and  glove 
with  John  C.  Calhoun  himself.  A  free  use  of  the 
spoils  of  office  had  failed  to  create  a  party  devoted 
to  his  interests,  and  in  isolated  self-sufficiency  his 
complacency  was  fed  by  the  flattery  of  a  cunning 
"kitchen  cabinet,"  which  ruled  him  and  moulded 
his  whims  to  suit  themselves.  The  people  abso 
lutely  refused  to  dance  to  his  piping,  and  his 
"great  country  party"  proved  but  a  sorry  court 
party  of  officeholders  and  officeseekers  and  poli 
tical  pariahs. 

One  question  was  coming  ever  more  prominently 
before  the  country  —  should  Texas  be  annexed  ? 
It  will  not  do  to  go  into  the  early  history  of  the 
Lone  Star  Republic  and  show  how  it  broke  away 
from  stagnant  Mexico,  how  it  was  colonized  by 
slave  owners  from  the  Southern  States,  who  were 
intent  from  the  first  on  gaining  new  fields  and 
introducing  their  system,  and  by  that  element  of 
our  population  which  is  always  ready  for  excite 
ment  and  peril.  The  annexation  plan  began  in 


A  DEMOCRATIC   LEADER  211 

conspiracy ;  it  was  carried  along  by  the  dark  and 
devious  machinery  of  sly  diplomacy;  it  ended  in 
a  disgraceful  war,  waged  under  false  pretenses, 
and  brought  by  swaggering  success  to  a  shameful 
end. 

Tyler  thrust  the  Texas  question  into  the  face  of 
the  country.  Webster  retired  from  the  foreign 
office  in  May,  1843,  and  after  a  short  interim, 
when  the  duties  of  the  office  were  performed  by 
Legare,  Upshur  was  appointed,  to  be  followed  on 
his  death  by  Calhoun.  The  appointment  of  the 
great  advocate  of  slavery  meant  that  annexation 
would  be  carried  to  a  conclusion.  The  plan  had 
for  some  time  been  cautiously  whispered  over  in 
meetings  of  the  President's  intimates.  Upshur 
had  used  a  bullying  tone  to  Mexico,  and  hints  of 
affectionate  consideration  had  been  given  to  Texas. 
Calhoun,  now  at  the  head  of  a  pro-slavery  cabinet, 
and  the  adviser  of  a  slaveholding  president,  bent 
his  energies  to  obtain  more  territory  where  the 
industrial  system  of  the  South  might  have  more 
room  and  full  play.  The  annexation  of  Texas 
is  the  first  great  effort  on  the  part  of  the  slave 
States  to  get  vantage  ground  for  bond  labor  in  its 
unequal  wrestle  with  the  labor  of  the  North.  Of 
course,  vainglory  and  national  pride  clothed  a 
loathsome  plan  with  patriotism,  and  blinded  the 
eyes  of  many  people  to  its  real  intent.  Immediate 
"re-annexation"  was  daily  becoming  more  popu 
lar  as  a  campaign  cry,  and  it  soon  became  evident 
that  it  must  be  a  determining  quantity  in  the 


212  LEWIS  CASS 

coming  election.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
idea  had  at  first  shocked  and  surprised  the  people, 
when  they  were  allowed  to  look  behind  the  cur 
tain,  they  soon  endured  it,  and  at  last  embraced 
it.  Every  day  the  danger  became  more  imminent 
that  no  candidate  could  expect  Southern  sympathy 
and  support  who  was  unwilling  to  adopt  as  his 
own  this  unjustifiable  scheme.  It  did  not  appear 
to  the  whole  North  in  its  worst  light,  for  there 
was  a  cry  that  England  had  her  hand  in  the  mess, 
and  that  if  the  United  States  was  not  on  the  watch 
the  Lone  Star  would  be  added  to  the  Union  Jack. 
Such  artful  and  revolting  deception  was  enough  to 
awaken  the  patriotism  of  the  North,  although  the 
truth  seems  to  be  that  all  that  England  desired 
was  to  win  Texas  for  abolition  and  liberty,  —  at 
the  same  time,  however,  probably  desiring  that  no 
other  power  should  profit  by  annexation. 

On  the  same  day  in  April,  1844,  two  letters 
appeared  opposing  the  acquisition  of  Texas.  One 
was  from  Clay,  who  believed  that  he  could  recon 
cile  friends  and  foes.1  The  other  was  from  Van 
Buren,  who  entered  into  a  full  discussion  of  the 
matter  from  its  beginning,  and  expressed  his  un 
qualified  dissent  from  annexation.  Clay  had  not 
materially  injured  his  chances,  for  the  Whig  party 
was  never  so  strong  in  the  South  or  so  bedridden 
with  slavery  as  was  the  Democratic;  but  from  the 
date  of  this  letter  Van  Buren 's  prestige  began  to 
decline.  Hitherto  he  had  bent  the  suppliant  knee 

1  Coleman's  Crittenden,  p.  218. 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  213 

to  the  slavocracy ;  but  here  was  a  breach  of  disci 
pline  not  to  be  tolerated,  and  a  search  was  begun 
for  a  candidate  who  could  be  relied  on.  Jackson 
had  already  written  a  letter  in  favor  of  annexation, 
in  which  he  spoke  of  the  necessity  of  having  Texas 
for  military  reasons,  and  called  up  the  horrors  of 
a  servile  insurrection  which  might  be  engendered 
by  a  British  army,  if  the  territory  did  not  fall  to 
us.  A  second  letter  from  Old  Hickory,  wrung 
from  him  by  Van  Buren 's  friends,  disclosed  him 
clinging  to  both  poles,  —  true  to  Van  Buren  and 
true  to  annexation,  intimating  that  his  past  grand 
protege  had  spoken  in  ignorance,  and  that  all 
would  be  right  when  it  came  to  the  pinch. 

Cass  was  ready  to  throw  himself  into  the  breach. 
He  had  been  urged  by  friends  to  embrace  his  op 
portunity  the  moment  that  Van  Buren  declared 
against  Texas.  A  letter  written  from  Detroit, 
May  10,  was  decidedly  for  annexation.  It  was 
addressed  to  Hon.  E.  A.  Hannegan,  at  Washing 
ton.  Its  publication  won  for  him  support  from 
the  immediate  annexationists.  It  struck  the  old 
key,  and  the  only  one  which  could  awaken  a  sym 
pathetic  response  in  the  North.  Praising  the  "in 
tuitive  sagacity"  of  Jackson,  and  appealing  to 
American  fear  and  jealousy  of  English  ambition, 
Cass  put  this  question,  shrewdly  adapted  to  inspire 
the  patriotism  of  the  North  and  to  excite  the  South 
to  fury :  "  What  more  favorable  position  could  be 
taken  for  the  occupation  of  English  black  troops, 
and  for  letting  them  loose  upon  our  Southern 


214  LEWIS  CASS 

States  than  is  afforded  by  Texas?"  The  end  of 
this  letter  was  worthy  of  the  beginning :  "  Every 
day  satisfies  me  more  and  more  that  a  majority 
of  the  American  people  are  in  favor  of  annexation. 
Were  they  not,  the  measure  ought  not  to  be  ef 
fected.  But  as  they  are,  the  sooner  it  is  effected 
the  better.  I  do  not  touch  the  details  of  the  ne 
gotiation.  That  must  be  left  to  the  responsibility 
of  the  government."  1  Vox  populi,  vox  del.  Into 
how  many  slums  and  sloughs  of  wickedness  did 
that  absurd  Democratic  shibboleth  summon  the 
country !  There  was  to  be  no  virtue  in  statesman 
ship  except  in  clairvoyant  reading  of  the  popular 
will.  Obedience  was  the  first  and  greatest  com 
mandment,  and  a  regard  for  it  allowed  the  politi 
cian  and  self-seeker  to  pose  as  a  ministering  angel 
obeying  the  divine  voice. 

Yet  one  who  studies  the  career  of  Cass  from 
the  beginning  will  see  elements  of  earnestness  and 
sincerity  in  this  letter,  demagogic  as  it  seems  at 
first.  It  was  another  instance  of  his  somewhat 
absurd  yet  natural  antipathy  to  England.  More 
over,  his  practice  had  been  from  the  beginning  to 
respect  and  cherish  the  whims  and  fancies  of  the 
people ;  his  admiration  for  Jackson  was  not  feigned. 
Had  he  opposed  the  annexation  of  Texas  he  might 
have  had  little  chance  of  nomination  in  1844,  but 
his  reputation  for  honesty  and  independence  would 
be  higher  with  this  generation.  It  is  nevertheless 
not  fair  to  brand  a  man  as  a  "doughface  "  because 

1  Niles,  vol.  Lsvi.  p.  197. 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  215 

he  happens  to  be  desirous  of  office  and  to  advocate 
a  plan  of  action  to  which  thousands  around  him 
are  attracted.  Had  he  not  been  a  candidate  for 
honors  in  the  Democratic  convention,  his  wish 
for  Texas  would  not  seem  strange  to  any  one ;  it 
would  be  entirely  consistent  with  his  vigorous 
American  nature,  with  his  broad  Western  enthu 
siasm  for  "bigness  "  and  empire.  His  later  cham 
pionship  of  our  right  to  "all  Oregon"  has  never 
been  attributed  to  demagoguery  and  insincerity, 
nor  could  it  be.  The  longing  for  territory  is 
much  the  same,  whether  the  land  lies  toward  the 
equator  or  the  pole.  To  call  a  man  a  "doughface  " 
and  a  "Northern  man  with  Southern  principles," 
without  attempting  to  show  acts  inconsistent  with 
character,  training,  sectional  influence,  and  pre 
vious  behavior;  to  denounce  him  as  a  hypocrite 
without  stating  more  than  one  fact  from  which  to 
infer  hypocrisy,  is  a  practice  more  fitted  to  politi 
cal  harangues  than  to  history.  We  are  just  recov 
ering  from  the  habit  of  talking  as  if  every  one 
who  was  not  an  abolitionist  or  directly  in  favor 
of  the  uprooting  of  slavery  was  morally  weak,  if 
not  spiritually  and  mentally  crooked.  This  con 
demns  nine  out  of  ten  men  at  the  North  in  the 
fifth  decade  of  the  century.  It  gives  no  room 
even  for  the  play  of  conservatism,  for  doubt,  for 
mental  inertia,  for  the  feeling  so  common  at  the 
beginning  of  every  great  moral  movement  that 
the  agitator  is  a  senseless  fanatic. 

After  the  appearance  of  Clay's  letter,  there  was 


216  LEWIS  CASS 

short  time  for  discussion  before  the  Whig  conven 
tion  assembled  at  Baltimore.  Of  course  Clay  was 
nominated  by  acclamation;  a  very  whirlwind  of 
applause  announced  the  beginning  of  a  campaign 
with  confidence  and  enthusiasm.  Theodore  Fre- 
linghuysen  was  nominated  for  vice-president.  A 
ratification  meeting,  one  of  the  greatest  pageants 
in  the  history  of  electioneering  pomps,  was  ad 
dressed  the  next  day  by  the  orators  of  the  party. 
Even  Webster,  leaving  his  dalliance  with  *'  Tyler- 
ism,"  found  his  way  back  into  the  old  ranks,  and 
thundered  out  his  approbation  of  the  work  of 
the  convention.  There  was  no  long  and  involved 
statement  of  principles.  The  name  of  Clay  was 
enough.  The  convention  was  content  with  a  short 
creed :  "  A  tariff  for  revenue  to  defray  the  neces 
sary  expenses  of  the  government,  and  discrimina 
tion  with  special  reference  to  the  protection  of  the 
domestic  labor  of  the  country ;  the  distribution  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands ;  a  single 
term  for  the  presidency;  a  reform  of  executive 
usurpations ;  and  generally  such  an  administration 
of  the  affairs  of  the  country  as  shall  impart  to 
every  branch  of  the  public  service  the  greatest 
practicable  efficiency,  controlled  by  a  well-regu 
lated  and  wise  economy." 

Upon  the  publication  of  Van  Buren's  letter  op 
posing  annexation,  the  South  looked  around  cau 
tiously  for  another  candidate  on  whom  it  could 
rely,  and  when  the  convention  met  Van  Buren  did 
not  receive  the  full  vote  of  a  single  slaveholding 


A   DEMOCRATIC   LEADER  217 

State  except  Missouri.  Calhoun  had  withdrawn. 
The  South  had  fallen  away  to  Cass  and  Johnson. 
Except  to  those  who  saw  how  set  the  wind,  the 
nomination  of  Van  Buren  must  have  seemed  pre 
destined.  State  conventions  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union  had  instructed  their  delegates  to  vote  for 
him,  and  it  was  certain  that  he  would  have  a 
majority  on  the  first  ballot.  Mutterings  and  com 
plaints,  ominous  of  disaffection,  were  heard  in  the 
Southern  States,  and  yet  no  one  could  have  fore 
seen  that  opposition  to  re-annexation  had  so  under 
mined  him.  This  convention  is  an  interesting 
one  from  more  than  one  point  of  view.  The  North 
ern  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  was  clipped  and 
crippled,  as  it  was  to  be  so  many  times  in  the 
future.  The  South,  with  definite  purpose  begot 
ten  of  common  material  interest,  won  its  way. 
This  convention  marks  a  differentiation  between 
the  Democracy,  with  its  Southern  proclivities,  and 
the  Whig  party,  which  was  hourly  drifting  farther 
from  such  moorings.  The  Democracy  was  going 
over  to  the  South;  the  Whig  party  was  getting 
entangled  in  the  skein  of  "free  soil  and  free  men." 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Van  Buren  men  had 
a  majority  of  the  convention,  and  indeed  because 
of  that  fact,  a  motion  was  adopted  requiring  that 
a  vote  of  two  thirds  was  necessary  for  a  choice, 
a  plan  used  in  two  previous  conventions.  That 
the  motion  could  be  carried  arnid  much  argument 
for  its  democracy  and  other  absurd  falsehoods, 
proves  that  delegates  instructed  to  vote  for  Van 


218  LEWIS  CASS 

Buren  were  ready  to  defeat  him  and  to  vote  for 
Cass  or  any  other  available  Texas  candidate.  But 
ler  of  New  York  and  others  argued  against  the 
adoption  of  that  rule,  which  has  more  than  once 
muzzled  a  Democratic  convention,  but  it  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  148  to  118,  almost  every  one 
of  the  Southern  States  voting  solidly  for  the  reso 
lution. 

The  convention  met  on  May  27.  The  first  bal 
lot  was  taken  on  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  giving 
151  for  Van  Buren,  83  for  Cass,  24  for  Johnson, 
and  scattering  votes  for  other  candidates.  This 
showed  a  clear  majority  of  31  for  Van  Buren. 
Seven  ballots  were  taken  in  succession.  In  the 
second  Cass's  vote  increased  to  94,  aided  especially 
by  votes  from  the  New  England  States.  The 
seventh  gave  Van  Buren  99,  and  Cass  123.  Every 
ballot  showed  the  Michigan  man  steadily  gaining, 
and  no  other  candidate  holding  his  own.  But 
after  an  ineffectual  effort  to  have  the  two  thirds 
rule  rescinded,  the  convention  adjourned  until  the 
next  morning.  During  the  night  the  wire-pullers 
set  their  machine  in  motion.  Amid  a  great  deal 
of  confusion  and  display  of  ill-temper  an  eighth 
vote  was  taken,  in  which  Cass  fell  to  114,  and 
James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee  received  44.  The 
trap  had  been  sprung.  A  stampede,  that  well- 
known  phenomenon  of  these  latter  days,  was  be 
gun.  The  States  swung  slowly  over  to  the  new 
man,  and  before  the  ninth  ballot  was  finished  the 
convention  was  in  an  uproar.  States  changed 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  219 

their  votes  from  Cass,  and  Polk  was  unanimously 
nominated.  Cass  had  directed  the  delegates  from 
Michigan  to  withdraw  his  name  at  any  time  in 
the  interest  of  harmony.  Texas  annexation  had 
won  the  day.  The  Democratic  party,  shorn  of  its 
manhood,  was  wooing  the  infamous  policy  of  Tyler, 
Calhoun,  and  slavery  extension.  George  M.  Dallas 
of  Pennsylvania  was  chosen  for  second  place  on  the 
ticket,  to  mollify  the  protectionists  of  the  home- 
market  State. 

Polk  was  the  first  "dark  horse"  of  the  political 
race-course.  "The  nomination  was  a  surprise  and 
a  marvel  to  the  country."1  Ben  ton  could  find 
but  two  small  occurrences  which  might  have  served 
as  a  warning  of  what  was  coming.  These  were 
well  calculated  to  deceive  the  people,  and  the 
consequence  was  that  the  result  of  the  convention 
bewildered  the  common  voter.  "Who  the  devil 
is  Polk?"  was  an  inquiry  constantly  made,  fur 
nishing  the  Whigs  with  unlimited  glee.  The  idea 
of  putting  an  unknown  fledgeling  against  their 
peerless  Clay  seemed  ridiculous,  and  Whig  success 
from  the  outset  was  believed  to  be  assured.  The 
convention  is  an  early  example  of  the  efficiency  of 
such  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  skillful  politician, 
who  has  room  for  his  work  from  the  primary  cau 
cus  up  to  the  final  nomination. 

Had  Cass  been  nominated,  inasmuch  as  he  was 
pledged  for  annexation,  he  would  without  doubt 
have  been  elected,  and  the  canvass  would  have 

1  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,  vol.  ii.  p.  594. 


220  LEWIS  CASS 

been  a  fair  combat  with  equal  weapons;  but  as 
Polk  was  nominated  by  underhand  methods,  and 
against  the  wishes  of  the  bulk  of  the  party,  so 
the  campaign  was  one  of  falsehood  and  intrigue. 
The  Democrats  were  at  first  capable  only  of  sad 
jollity  in  the  presence  of  the  excitement  and  confi 
dence  of  the  Whigs,  but  as  the  months  went  on 
this  unknown  chieftain  aroused  unexpected  enthu 
siasm,  and  it  became  apparent  that  Polk,  with 
the  added  cubit  of  annexation,  was  not  the  pigmy 
which  he  had  been  first  considered  by  his  super 
cilious  opponents.  "Polk,  Dallas,  and  the  Tariff 
of  1842 "  was  a  mighty  battle-cry.  Never  has 
there  been  anything  more  shameful  in  political 
warfare  than  the  brazen  charge  in  the  North  that 
Polk  was  more  friendly  to  the  tariff  than  was 
Henry  Clay  himself.  With  magnificent  effrontery 
the  Whigs  were  dared  to  repeal  their  pet  tariff. 
But  Texas,  not  the  tariff,  was  the  question  of  the 
campaign,  and  had  Clay  been  guided  to  the  end 
by  his  earlier  and  better  motives,  he  might  have 
won  the  day.  Texas  was  destined  to  be  an  Ameri 
can  State,  —  its  annexation  meant  more  territory 
for  slavery;  and  it  can  hardly  be  claimed  that 
Clay  seriously  objected  because  such  would  have 
been  the  result  of  its  acquisition.  Nevertheless, 
had  the  Whigs  been  victorious,  the  Mexican  war 
might  have  been  averted;  Texas  perhaps  might 
have  been  secured  without  a  shameless  disregard 
of  constitutional  law  and  common  national  cour 
tesy. 


A  DEMOCRATIC   LEADER  221 

Clay,  however,  was  uneasy.  Trustful  in  his 
own  tact  and  his  knowledge  of  the  popular  feel 
ings,  his  ready  pen  flowed  smoothly  on  in  letter 
after  letter,  until  at  last  appeared  his  famous 
Alabama  letter:  "Far  from  having  any  personal 
objection  to  the  annexation  of  Texas,  I  should  be 
glad  to  see  it  annexed  without  dishonor,  without 
war,  with  the  common  consent  of  the  Union,  and 
upon  just  and  fair  terms."  The  letters,  written 
to  win  Southern  voters,  did  not  win  them,  but 
simply  weakened  his  support  at  the  North.  For 
the  Liberty  party  was  again  in  the  field,  with 
Birney  at  its  head  for  the  second  time,  and  the 
"Alabama  letter"  was  an  efficient  weapon  in  many 
of  the  Northern  States.  In  the  North  Clay  was 
attacked  as  a  friend  to  annexation,  and  in  the 
South  as  a  foe  to  it.  One  Whig  afterwards  wit 
tily  remarked  that  "  the  only  qualification  he  should 
ask  of  a  candidate  in  the  future  would  be  that  he 
could  neither  read  nor  write." l  It  has  been  posi 
tively  asserted  recently  that  Birney 's  vote  was 
greatly  decreased  by  the  "Garland  forgery,"  con 
cocted  by  the  Whig  central  committee  of  Michi 
gan;2  but  without  doubt  Clay's  letter  added  more 
to  the  Liberty  vote  than  was  lost  by  any  other 
means.  How  deeply  that  shaft  struck  home  is 
apparent  in  reading  the  autobiography  of  Thurlow 
Weed,  where  he  exposes  the  inmost  recesses  of 

1  Quoted  in  Schouler's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  iv.  p. 
478. 

2  James  G.  Birney  and  His  Times,  p.  354. 


222  LEWIS  CASS 

his  political  soul;  he  sighs  and  mourns  over  that 
fatal  blunder  years  after  it  had  dealt  its  destruc 
tion.  The  vote  of  the  Liberty  party  was  greater 
in  New  York  than  the  Democratic  majority,  and 
if  they  had  united  against  Polk  and  annexation, 
Clay,  who  represented  the  better  elements  of  the 
political  life  of  the  time,  would  have  been  elected. 
Birney's  home  was  now  in  Michigan,  and  here, 
too,  his  party  held  the  balance  of  power.  It  was 
ominous.  The  free  Northwest  was  becoming  im 
bued  with  the  abolition  feeling.  Cass's  own  State 
was  drifting  away  from  pro-slavery  Democracy. 
It  will  be  seen  later  how  his  fortunes  were  influ 
enced  by  the  growth  of  this  sentiment.  "The 
abolitionists  deserve  to  be  damned,  and  they  will 
be,"  was  a  usual  expression  of  a  common  feeling. 
But  only  four  years  later  the  Whigs  of  the  North 
west  were  dangerously  near  the  principles  of  the 
party  so  forcibly  condemned  in  1844. 

Cass  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign,  not 
traveling  over  the  whole  country  to  speak  for  Polk 
and  Texas,  but  using  his  influence  steadily  for  the 
ticket,  and  not  sulking  in  his  tent  because  of  his 
own  failure.  A  grand  Democratic  mass  meeting 
at  Nashville,  where  Polk  himself  was  present,  was 
one  of  the  monster  meetings  so  frequent  during 
that  summer  when  men,  dropping  ordinary  pur 
suits,  gave  themselves  up  to  the  joyful  excitement 
so  dear  to  the  politics-loving  people  of  the  coun 
try.  Cass  was  one  of  the  orators  of  the  occasion, 
and  on  his  way  back  to  Detroit  addressed  "im- 


A  DEMOCRATIC  LEADER  223 

inense  multitudes  "  at  various  places  in  Ohio  and 
Indiana  on  the  issues  of  the  campaign.  All  au 
diences  were  then  "huge  concourses-"  or  "immense 
multitudes,"  if  we  are  to  believe  the  head -lines  of 
the  times ;  and  without  doubt  the  Northwest  was 
alive  and  interested.  Cass  returned  to  Detroit, 
prophesying  that  the  Northwest  would  give  its 
suffrages  for  the  Democratic  ticket.  All  but  Ohio 
answered  his  expectations,  and  in  that  State  Clay 
received  about  20,000  less  votes  than  Harrison 
had  received  four  years  before.  The  Northwest, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  had  begun  to  lean  to 
ward  free  soil,  was  evidently  still  clinging  to  the 
idol  of  its  youth.  If  Cass  was  in  favor  of  annexa 
tion  so  was  his  section,  so  were  his  friends  and 
companions  in  business  and  politics.  This  is  not 
complete  justification.  A  statesman  should  be  a 
leader,  and  should  create  sound  public  sentiment. 
But  we  must  remember  that  a  belief  in  the  sacred - 
ness  of  popular  clamor  was  a  living  faith  with  the 
true  Democratic  statesman  of  that  time ;  we  must 
remember  that  Cass  was  a  Western  man,  and  filled 
with  the  Western  spirit;  national  grandeur  and 
boldness  in  action,  so  much  admired  by  the  Wes 
tern  settler,  had  their  charms  for  him.  It  is  just 
to  take  into  account  atmosphere  and  environment. 
The  "dark  horse  "  and  his  black  policy,  sped  by 
fraud  and  political  trickery,  won  the  day.  The 
nation  seemed  hushed  and  dumbfounded  at  its 
own  act.  There  was  little  rejoicing  among  the 
successful,  and  no  glorification;  for  many  had 


224  LEWIS   CASS 

voted  for  Polk  only  in  reluctant  obedience  to  the 
party  whip.  "It  is  hardly  possible  at  this  day," 
says  an  observer,  "to  conceive  the  distress  which 
pervaded  the  city  of  Philadelphia  the  night  follow 
ing  the  news,  and  for  many  days  after.  It  was 
as  if  the  firstborn  of  every  family  had  been  stricken 
down.  The  city  next  day  was  clothed  in  gloom ; 
thousands  of  women  were  weeping,  but  none  ex 
ulting."1  The  election  of  Polk  meant  the  imme 
diate  annexation  of  Texas,  war  with  Mexico,  the 
consequent  purchase  of  California,  Nevada,  and 
Arizona;  it  meant  that  the  golden  sands  of  that 
western  wilderness  would  be  sifted  and  its  quartz 
crushed,  that  a  magnificent  city  of  American  in 
dustry  and  American  liberty  would  stretch  itself 
along  the  windy  heights  within  the  Golden  Gate; 
it  meant  that  American  civilization  was  to  pene 
trate  into  the  nooks  and  corners  of  a  country  which 
might  not  have  given  its  blessings  to  the  world  for 
centuries  if  held  by  the  nerveless  hand  of  Mexico. 
But  one  is  led  to  query  whether  wealth  and  na 
tional  grandeur  are  fairly  purchased  by  dishonor. 
Even  before  the  great  apostle  of  annexation  reached 
the  presidential  chair,  Tyler  and  Calhoun  had 
made  the  last  proposition,  and  only  the  finishing 
touches  were  needed  to  bring  Texas  within  the 
fold. 

1  Sargent,  Public  Men  and  Events,  vol.  ii.  p.  250. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

SENATOR.  —  CANDIDATE   FOR   THE  PRESIDENCY.  — 
SQUATTER   SOVEREIGNTY 

ON  February  4,  1845,  Cass  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate  from  Michigan,  and  he  was 
present  at  the  special  session  in  March.  He  was 
appointed  to  the  second  place  on  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations,  and  during  the  remainder 
of  his  public  life  was  greatly  interested  in  matters 
of  international  concern.  He  at  once  took  a  promi 
nent  and  influential  position,  and  was  recognized 
as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Senate.  His  speeches 
were  often  too  learned  and  too  long  to  be  convin 
cing;  his  cumbersome  sentences  were  not  always 
enlivening ;  but  when  he  rose  to  speak  on  a  sub 
ject  in  which  he  was  much  interested  he  was  always 
impressive.  His  large  figure,  his  finely  shaped 
head,  his  firm  mouth,  and  intelligent  features  be 
spoke  earnestness,  thoughtfulness,  and  intellectual 
integrity.  Through  the  rest  of  his  life  he  was 
the  great  champion  of  Americanism  and  national 
honor;  and  though  his  continual  guardianship  of 
our  country  sometimes  caused  a  laugh  at  his  ex 
pense  in  the  few  merry  days  which  the  Senate 
enjoyed  during  these  troublous  times,  his  true 


226  LEWIS   CASS 

patriotic  fervor  and  his  serious  appreciation  of 
our  needs  and  our  dangers  won  respect,  while  his 
courteous  demeanor  and  his  frank  friendliness, 
which  knew  not  jealousy  or  envy,  endeared  him  to 
political  foes,  and  disarmed  factious  opposition. 

The  Democratic  convention  of  the  preceding 
campaign  had  mollified  Northern  resentment  by 
coupling  the  "re-occupation"  of  Oregon  with  the 
"re-annexation"  of  Texas.  Care  for  Oregon  had 
long  been  a  favorite  Northwestern  policy,  and  no 
doubt  the  proclamation  of  these  unexpected  bans 
by  the  Democratic  party  contributed  largely  to 
its  success  in  that  portion  of  the  country.  Cass 
entered  the  Senate  bent  on  re-occupation,  filled  as 
usual  with  the  aggressive,  hastening  spirit  of  his 
ambitious  section.  Polk,  in  his  inaugural,  had 
declared  the  undoubted  right  of  the  United  States 
to  the  whole  of  Oregon,  and  now  the  country  rang 
with  another  artful  alliteration,  which  was  intended 
to  drown  all  feeble  appeals  to  sense.  Kussia  had 
receded  into  the  rains  of  Alaska  north  of  54°  40', 
and  America  now  claimed  all  the  country  interven 
ing  between  the  northern  boundary  of  California, 
then  Mexican  territory,  and  the  southern  line  of 
the  Russian  possessions.  "Fifty -four  forty  or 
fight!  "  was  well  calculated  to  tickle  the  brains  of 
the  thoughtless  and  to  arouse  the  ambition  of  the 
"West.  There  has  always  been  an  uneasy  element 
in  our  country  preferring  the  adventure  of  new 
settlement  to  the  restriction  and  comfort  of  exist 
ence  in  older  communities.  The  rough  Northwest 


SENATOR  227 

was  already  getting  too  crowded  for  these  restless 
spirits.  People  started  in  long  caravans  on  their 
tiresome  journey  over  the  dry  and  dreary  plains  of 
the  West  in  search  of  new  homes  on  the  Columbia 
River,  encouraged  by  the  burning  hope  of  the 
adventurer  and  by  patriotic  devotion,  fully  per- 
s'uaded  of  a  duty  to  wrest  Oregon,  as  well  as 
Texas,  from  the  clutch  of  England. 

But  Polk  was  only  half-hearted.  Texas  was 
made  ours,  and  afterward  Oregon  seemed  not  of 
so  much  consequence  to  him.  Buchanan,  the  new 
secretary  of  state,  offered  to  accept  the  line  of 
49°,  which  already  bounded  our  possessions  as  far 
as  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  proposition  was 
immediately  rejected  by  the  British  minister ;  and 
our  government,  piqued  at  the  refusal  of  a  fair 
compromise,  presented  claims  to  the  whole  region. 
Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  when  Congress  as 
sembled  in  December,  1845.  Although  a  new 
member,  Cass  was  not  a  stranger  to  national  af 
fairs,  and  the  Oregon  matter  came  near  to  North 
western  feeling  and  appealed  peculiarly  to  personal 
prejudices.  On  December  9  he  introduced  a  reso 
lution  on  the  defenses  of  the  country,  and  a  few 
days  later  supported  it  in  an  able  speech,  in  which 
he  held  up  the  spectre  of  war,  and  insisted  that 
nothing  but  sensible  precautions  would  avoid  armed 
collision  with  Great  Britain.  This  was  the  begin 
ning  of  the  "exciting  and  at  times  inflammatory 
debates  on  the  Oregon  question,  which  lasted, 
with  intervals,  for  months."1  In  January  he 
1  Sargent,  Public  Men  and  Events,  vol.  ii.  p.  271. 


228  LEWIS   CASS 

delivered  a  long  and  eloquent  address  on  European 
interference  in  American  affairs,  and  until  the 
determination  of  the  controversy  he  was  the  leader 
of  the  "fifty-four  forties"  in  the  Senate.  His 
continual  reference  to  an  "inevitable"  war  came 
to  be  a  source  of  amusement  to  the  senators;  but 
in  the  midst  of  all  the  heat  and  anger  of  a  discus 
sion,  which  almost  equaled  in  acerbity  the  fiercest 
debates  on  the  slavery  question,  Cass  never  forgot 
his  courtesy  or  lowered  his  dignity  by  personal 
abuse.  The  good  humor  of  his  intense  earnestness 
is  illustrated  by  the  story  of  his  rising  to  speak 
with  the  statement  that  he  was  not  going  to  make 
a  war  speech  nor  use  the  word  "inevitable."  He 
had  not  proceeded  far,  however,  before  the  use 
of  the  familiar  word  put  the  Senate  into  roars  of 
laughter  at  his  expense,  in  which  he  joined  as 
heartily  as  any.1  It  was  during  these  debates  that 
Crittenden  castigated  Allen  of  Ohio  so  severely 
for  his  superciliousness  and  invective,  and  that 
Hannegan  of  Indiana  made  use  of  an  expression 
often  appropriated  since  in  political  screeds :  if 
Polk,  he  said,  had,  during  election,  advocated  the 
occupation  of  Oregon  for  mere  buncombe  and 
claptrap,  he  would  be  doomed  "to  an  infamy  so 
profound,  a  damnation  so  deep,  that  the  hand  of 
resurrection  will  never  be  able  to  drag  him  forth."  2 
It  is  impossible  to  go  into  the  whole  discussion 

1  Sargent,  Public  Men  and  Events,  vol.  ii.  p.  273.     Newspaper 
clippings  in  private  papers  of  Cass. 

2  Benton,  vol.  ii.  p.  665. 


SENATOR  229 

of  the  Oregon  question.  Such  controversies,  which 
find  their  origin  and  arguments  in  the  diplomacy 
of  long-past  days,  or  in  the  uncertainties  of  dis 
covery  and  exploration,  can  be  ended  by  compro 
mise  alone,  unless  the  stern  hand  of  war  interferes. 
America  had  a  color  of  title  to  the  territory  as  far 
as  the  possessions  of  Kussia ;  but  that  is  about  all 
that  can  be  said  of  it.  Claims  were  traced  back 
to  the  early  Spanish  discoveries  on  the  one  hand, 
and  to  the  voyage  of  the  buccaneer  Drake  on  the 
other.  For  Spain  by  the  treaty  of  1819  had  ceded 
all  her  claims  to  the  United  States.  In  spite, 
therefore,  of  a  number  of  long  orations  from  Cass, 
who  showed  a  depth  of  historical  knowledge  and 
a  power  of  arrangement  and  argument  which  made 
him  the  equal  of  Webster  and  of  Benton  in  these 
debates,  the  controversy  ended  in  compromise. 
Seldom  does  a  senator  in  his  first  session  step 
forward  into  leadership;  but  Cass  seemed  in  a 
moment  to  be  at  home,  and  was  recognized  imme 
diately  as  chief  opponent  or  ally.  He  was  of 
course  struggling  to  keep  himself  so  before  the 
public  that  his  nomination  in  1848  might  be  cer 
tain.  His  speeches  were  carefully  printed,  and 
a  judicious  circulation  of  them  kept  him  prominent 
as  the  patriotic  champion  of  American  privileges. 
Although  attached  to  party,  he  absolutely  refused 
to  be  identified  with  the  administration  on  this 
issue.  It  was  a  movement  of  his  own.  He  could 
count  on  the  sympathy  of  the  West,  at  least,  and 
upon  the  common  jealousy  of  England;  and  in  so 


230  LEWIS  CASS 

far  as  the  Oregon  question  assumed  serious  form, 
or  in  so  far  as  threats  and  precautionary  prepara 
tions  for  hostility  brought  England  to  less  arro 
gant  consideration  of  the  case,  the  credit  is  largely 
due  to  Cass. 

England  was  not  pleased  at  all  this.  The  Presi 
dent,  in  a  special  message  in  March,  advised  an 
increase  of  the  army  and  navy.  On  the  receipt 
in  London  of  the  news  that  the  House  had  passed 
a  joint  resolution  to  give  the  one  year  notice  for 
terminating  the  joint  occupancy  of  Oregon,  stocks 
fell  one  per  cent,  and  consols  more  than  two  per 
cent.1  Both  countries,  however,  soon  softened 
down  for  amicable  settlement.  The  forty-ninth 
parallel  was  taken  as  the  boundary  as  far  west  as 
its  intersection  with  the  channel  "which  separates 
the  continent  from  Vancouver's  Island."  Cass 
and  thirteen  other  extremists  voted  against  ratifi 
cation  in  vain.  Compromise  was  sensible;  but 
had  it  not  been  for  the  "bluff"  of  the  "fifty -four 
forties"  a  fair  bargain  would  have  been  reached 
only  with  difficulty,  if  at  all.  Had  every  one 
been  as  ready  to  renounce  all  claims  as  were  Web 
ster  and  others  from  the  beginning,  the  outcome 
would  have  been  doubtful. 

Even  more  serious  matters  were  holding  the 
attention  of  the  President  and  the  country.  The 
annexation  of  Texas  had  not  driven  Mexico  to 
immediate  war,  but  every  day  made  hostilities 
more  certain.  Slowly  and  craftily  Polk  proceeded 
1  Niles,  vol.  Ixx.  p.  65. 


SENATOR  231 

to  win  the  coveted  prize  of  California,  to  bully 
and  to  bribe  until  poor  Mexico  should  satisfy  the 
unjust  ambition  of  a  people  who  boasted  of  their 
liberty  and  enlightenment.  The  events  of  Folk's 
administration  show  us  how  slavery  had  poisoned 
the  whole  national  system.  After  failure  in  secret 
negotiations,  which  relied  on  a  craven  and  abject ' 
spirit  in  the  Mexicans,  General  Taylor  was  ordered 
to  occupy  the  territory  between  the  Nueces  and 
the  Rio  Grande,  a  portion  of  Mexico  to  which 
Texas  had  not  the  slightest  claim,  except  a  paper 
one  unsupported  by  successful  adverse  occupation. 
His  position  threatened  Matamoras.  An  engage 
ment  ensued.  The  President  proclaimed  that  Amer 
ican  blood  had  been  spilled  on  American  soil,  and 
Congress  declared  that  war  existed  by  act  of 
Mexico. 

The  legislation  which  carried  on  this  war,  begun 
with  these  specious  falsehoods,  cannot  here  be  re 
viewed  ;  but  in  these  Democratic  straits  Cass  came 
forward  once  more  as  the  champion  of  national 
rights,  and  was  the  main  stay  of  the  President 
and  his  party.  The  Machiavellian  methods  of 
the  administration  have  been  fully  made  known 
only  recently,  and  we  cannot  charge  that  every 
supporter  of  the  war  countenanced  the  whole  pro 
cedure,  and  was  particeps  criminis  to  the  whole 
extent  of  the  crime.  Cass's  speech  on  the  Ten 
Regiment  Bill  was  good  campaign  powder.  Not 
that  his  defense  of  the  measure  was  disingenuous 
or  insincere;  for  no  one  can  say  that  when  once 


232  LEWIS  CASS 

the  war  was  begun  it  ought  not  to  have  been  car 
ried  on  effectually.  The  conduct  of  Cass  as  a 
Democrat  is  open  to  little  criticism  at  this  junc 
ture;  and  possibly  it  would  not  be  fair  to  expect 
him  to  see  so  clearly  as  those  Whigs  whose  party 
interests  made  their  very  prejudices  incline  towards 
k  the  right  course,  or  as  the  younger  men  of  the 
North,  who  were  growing  restive  under  the  saddle 
and  bridle  of  slavocratic  masters. 

Considerable  space  has  been  given  to  Texas  and 
the  piratical  assault  on  Mexico  because  the  most 
prominent  fact  of  the  later  career  of  Cass  is  con 
nected  with  this  acquisition  of  new  territory.  On 
August  8,  1846,  a  resolution  was  offered  in  the 
House  to  appropriate  $2,000,000  "for  the  purpose 
of  defraying  any  extraordinary  expenses  which 
may  be  incurred  in  the  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  foreign  nations."  This  signified 
that  land  was  to  be  acquired  from  Mexico  by  pur 
chase,  and  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  David 
Wilmot,  a  representative  from  Pennsylvania,  of 
fered  an  amendment  providing  that  the  funda 
mental  condition  to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory 
from  Mexico  should  be  that  slavery  should  never 
exist  in  any  portion  of  it.  The  bill  with  the 
amendment  was  passed  by  the  House.  But  in  the 
confusion  at  the  end  of  the  session  it  was  talked 
to  death  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Davis  of  Massa 
chusetts,  who  was  effusively  defending  the  proviso 
when  Congress  adjourned  until  the  next  session. 
Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Senate 


SENATOR  233 

Cass  said  that  he  was  sorry  that  the  proviso  had 
been  lost.  His  later  acts  were  inconsistent  with 
the  inference  drawn  from  this  remark,  and  great 
political  capital  was  manufactured  in  consequence. 
At  the  next  session  of  Congress,  1847,  the  pro 
viso  came  up  again  as  a  rider  to  the  appropriation 
by  the  House  of  $3,000,000  for  the  purposes  men 
tioned  before.  But  the  Senate  would  not  be  thus 
circumvented,  and  forced  the  House  to  agree  to 
the  appropriation,  riderless.  During  the  session 
Cass  spoke  often  on  the  general  proposition  of 
voting  money  to  the  government.  On  March  1, 
1847,  he  came  out  directly  in  opposition  to  the 
proviso.  His  reasons  were  six:  1.  The  present 
was  not  the  time  to  introduce  a  sectional  topic. 

2.  It  would  be  quite  in  season  to  provide  for  the 
government  of  a  Territory  after  it  was  obtained. 

3.  Any  such  proviso  expressed  too  much  confi 
dence  in  the  outcome  of  the  war.     4.  Legislation 
at  that  time  would  be  inoperative,  and  not  binding 
on   succeeding  Congresses.     5.    The  adoption   of 
the  proviso  might  bring  the  war  to  an  untimely 
issue.     6.  It  would  prevent  the  acquisition  of  a 
single  foot  of  territory,  and  thus  disappoint  a  vast 
majority  of  the  American  people.     He  attempted  to 
show  by  a  course  of  very  hollow  reasoning  that 
the  Northern  legislatures  which  had  passed  resolu 
tions  deprecating  the  spread  of  slavery  would  not 
be  satisfied  by  the  adoption  of  the  proviso.     Ver 
mont,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Michigan 


234  LEWIS  CASS 

had  already  passed  such  measures.  The  Demo 
cratic  legislature  of  Cass's  own  State  had  advo 
cated  the  extension  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  over 
any  new  territory  acquired. 

This  speech  is  the  beginning  of  another  chapter 
in  the  career  of  Cass.  He  had  been  the  leader 
and  the  prophet  of  his  State  and  the  Northwest. 
His  political  life  from  this  time  on  illustrates 
Northwestern  development  from  the  reverse  side. 
His  energetic  constituents,  breathing  the  free  air 
of  the  West,  their  eyes  open  to  national  needs  and 
to  the  immorality  of  slavery,  however  much  it 
might  be  supported  by  constitutional  props,  have 
now  outstripped  their  leader,  and  erelong  he  will 
be  looked  upon  as  the  representative  of  their  past 
beliefs  and  their  bygone  acquiescence  in  a  corrod 
ing  sin.  This  is  the  true  interpretation  of  Cass's 
political  life.  This  is  what  makes  him  the  best 
centre  from  which  to  study  the  development  of 
the  Northwest  as  a  portion  of  the  nation.  The 
great  movement  against  slavery,  it  must  be  re 
membered,  came  from  new  men.  The  old  states 
men,  who  had  grown  used  to  the  pollution,  were 
unable  to  take  a  stand  in  opposition ;  not  Webster 
or  Cass,  but  Seward  and  Lincoln  and  Chase  put 
the  proper  estimate  upon  the  institution.  Yet  the 
remarks  of  Senator  Miller,  after  Cass's  objection 
to  the  proviso,  are  worth  recording:  "He  was 
connected  in  many  honorable  ways,  in  war  and  in 
peace,  with  the  history  of  the  Northwest,  and  he 
is  now  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  command- 


SENATOR  235 

ing  a  position  so  high  and  so  influential,  it  was 
hoped,  nay  expected  by  all  the  free  North,  that 
he  would  on  this  occasion  have  given  all  the  talent 
and  influence  within  his  control  to  extend  and 
secure  to  other  Territories  that  great  ordinance  of 
free  labor,  the  practical  advantages  of  which,  so 
cial  and  political,  he  was  so  fully  aware  [of],  and 
no  doubt  highly  appreciated." l 

As  the  campaign  of  1848  approached,  it  became 
apparent  that  Cass  was  to  be  the  favorite  of  the 
Democratic  party.  His  views  on  various  subjects 
were  in  consequence  sought  with  care,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  catechism  he  promulgated  a  doctrine 
which  furnished  material  for  discussion  until  de 
bate  was  silenced  by  the  more  eloquent  bombard 
ment  of  Sumter.  This  was  the  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty  in  the  Territories.  It  was  first  fairly 
announced  by  Cass;  he  first  introduced  it  as  an 
active  principle  in  the  political  life  of  the  time; 
he  first  marshaled  arguments  in  its  defense.  It 
will  not  do  to  say  that  he  created  it.  No  great 
thought  influencing  the  career  of  a  free  nation  is 
begotten  in  the  brain  of  a  single  man,  to  spring 
into  existence  at  once  endowed  with  full  vigor. 
Senator  Dickinson  of  New  York  had  already  sug 
gested  the  idea.  But  Cass  took  the  wandering, 
tentative  suggestions  of  statesmen  and  people,  and 
combined  them  and  arranged  them  in  a  clear,  suc 
cinct  statement  of  a  great  political  principle.  He 
first  struck  the  clear  note,  for  which  others  had 

1  Congressional  Record,  vol.  xvii.  p.  551. 


236  LEWIS  CASS 

been  unconsciously  or  furtively  feeling.  In  that 
sense  he  was  the  author  of  the  doctrine  of  which 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  afterwards  became  godfather 
and  fiercest  defender.  So  intimately  did  the  later 
debates  between  Douglas  and  Lincoln  associate 
this  theory  with  the  name  of  the  former,  that  an 
explicit  statement  of  its  true  origin  is  needed  here. 
The  "Little  Giant,"  a  ready  and  active  debater 
in  years  when  Cass  was  beginning  to  feel  the 
burdens  of  age,  leveled  his  lance  in  agile  defense 
of  this  proposition  so  often  and  so  valiantly,  that 
to  him  has  been  attributed  a  paternity  to  which 
he  has  no  right. 

In  answer  to  queries  from  Mr.  A.  O.  P.  Nich 
olson  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  Cass  wrote  a  letter, 
December  24,  1847,  which  was  the  first  embodi 
ment  of  the  doctrine  of  "squatter  sovereignty." 
The  Wilmot  proviso,  he  said,  had  been  long  before 
the  people,  and  he  was  impressed  with  the  belief 
that  a  change  had  -been  going  on  in  the  public 
mind,  and  in  his  own  as  well  as  in  the  minds 
of  others;  doubts  were  resolving  themselves  into 
convictions  that  the  principle  involved  should  be 
kept  out  of  the  national  legislature.  He  went 
on  to  argue  that  the  central  government  did  not 
have  the  authority  to  govern  the  Territories  under 
those  provisions  of  the  Constitution  which  grant 
"the  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 
rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  and 
other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States ; '? 
that  the  lives  and  possessions  of  citizens  could  not 


SENATOR  237 

be  controlled  by  an  authority  which  was  merely 
"called  into  existence  for  the  purpose  of  making 
rules  and  regulations  for  the  disposition  and  man 
agement  of  property."  "If  the  relation  of  master 
and  servant  may  be  regulated  or  annihilated  .  .  . 
so  may  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  of  parent 
and  child,  and  of  any  other  condition  which  our 
institutions  and  the  habits  of  our  society  recog 
nize."  The  internal  concerns  of  the  Territories 
ought,  he  maintained,  to  be  regulated  by  the  peo 
ple  inhabiting  them,  without  molestation  or  direc 
tion  from  Congress.  "They  are  just  as  capable 
of  doing  so  as  the  people  of  the  States ;  and  they 
can  do  so  at  any  rate  as  soon  as  their  political 
independence  is  recognized  by  their  admission  into 
the  Union."  Even  if  the  central  government  could 
interfere  with  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Territories, 
a  proposition  which  he  denied,  it  would  be  inexpe 
dient  to  exercise  a  doubtful  and  invidious  authority 
that  statehood  would  soon  brush  away. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787,  under  which  Cass  had 
acted  as  governor,  and  which  bestows  upon  the 
appointees  of  the  central  government  almost  de 
spotic  power,  did  not  furnish  good  material  for  his 
arguments.  But  he  succeeded  in  presenting  with 
great  ability  his  belief  that  the  Territories  ought 
to  decide  for  themselves  whether  or  not  slavery 
should  exist  within  their  limits.  It  was  not  such 
an  easy  task  as  it  might  seem  at  first  to  prove  the 
unreasonableness  of  this  doctrine.  It  was  after 
wards  so  ably  defended  as  to  win  the  favor  of  the 


238  LEWIS  CASS 

Northern  Democracy  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  Nevertheless,  the  author  of  a  principle  which 
half  the  North  accepted  has,  without  fact  or  testi 
mony,  been  charged  with  selfish  insincerity  in  its 
inception  and  advocacy.  We  can  judge  of  animus 
and  motive  only  from  acts.  The  rest  of  the  life 
and  conduct  of  Cass  furnish  no  evidence  to  sustain 
the  charge  of  inconsistency  or  insincerity  in  the 
Nicholson  letter.  While  governor  he  had  encour 
aged  popular  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Territory,  had  aided  and  promoted  local  self-gov 
ernment,  had  obeyed  the  wishes  of  the  people  with 
out  regard  to  his  own  official  right  of  appointment, 
and  had  yielded  other  high  prerogatives.  His 
Democracy  was  orthodox,  and  his  practice  cannot 
be  shown  to  have  varied  from  his  fundamental 
theory.  His  article  on  the  removal  of  the  Indians, 
published  twenty  years  before  this,  contains  an 
exact  parity  of  reasoning.  Moreover,  if  in  draft 
ing  this  letter  he  was  hollow  and  insincere,  hoping 
by  dodging  an  issue  to  win  Southern  support  with 
out  losing  Northern  favor,  the  same  indictment 
must  be  brought  against  many  others  in  whom 
the  people  of  Michigan  have  had  the  utmost  con 
fidence.  He  was  warned  by  the  most  influential 
of  his  colleagues  from  his  State  of  the  danger  of 
writing  letters,  but  when  this  letter  was  shown 
them  before  its  publication  they  accepted  its  prin 
ciples.1  From  the  information  I  have  been  able 

1  Conversation   with   Governor  Alpheus   Felch,  senator  from 
Michigan,  1847. 


SENATOR  239 

to  obtain  by  conversation  with  those  who  were 
intimate  with  General  Cass  at  the  time,  I  have 
been  induced  to  draw  the  conclusion  that  his  Nich 
olson  letter  was  a  frank  statement  of  his  conscien 
tious  belief,  not  an  avoidance  of  a  dreaded  issue 
nor  an  attempt  to  devise  new  interpretations.1 

Within  three  years  after  the  appearance  of 
Cass's  letter  four  distinct  solutions  of  the  prob 
lems  arising  from  the  acquisition  of  new  territory 
were  presented  and  found  their  advocates:  first, 
the  principle  of  the  Wilmot  proviso :  that  slavery 
should  be  entirely  excluded;  second,  the  doctrine 
of  Calhoun:  that  slaves  were  property,  and  that 
it  was  the  bounden  duty  of  Congress  to  protect 
the  rights  of  the  Southerner  to  his  slaves  within 
territory  of  the  United  States,  just  as  the  law 
protected  property  in  sheep  and  oxen ;  third,  that 
the  line  of  36°  30',  extended  to  the  Pacific,  would 
be  an  equitable  division;  fourth,  that  the  people 
of  the  Territories  ought  to  be  allowed  to  decide  the 
question  for  themselves.  This  last  was  nicely 
calculated  to  take  its  skillful  way  between  the  two 
extremes.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  think  that 
Cass  hoped  and  believed  that  popular  sovereignty 
would  show  the  advantage  of  freedom  over  slavery, 
and  that  the  Territories  would  be  won  naturally 
for  and  by  free  labor.  Thus  his  action  is  inter 
preted  by  men  who  were  his  political  opponents 
at  the  time.2  In  February,  1848,  the  treaty  of 

1  See,  also,  Judge  Cooley's  Michigan,  p.  205. 

2  Private  correspondence  with  the  author. 


240  LEWIS  CASS 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo  added  to  the  United  States 
a  half  million  of  square  miles.  Whether  or  not 
this  territory,  stretching  away  from  the  western 
boundary  of  Texas  to  the  Pacific,  was  to  be  inun 
dated  by  the  black  tide  of  slavery  or  consecrated 
to  freedom,  was  the  question  which  awakened  the 
people  of  the  country;  and  all  the  hushing  cries 
of  the  conservatives,  who  cried  down  and  frowned 
down  "agitation,"  could  not  lull  the  men  of  the 
North  to  sleep. 

Cass  received  from  various  quarters  recommen 
dations  and  nominations  for  the  presidency  in  1848. 
His  only  serious  competitor  was  Buchanan,  and 
when  Pennsylvania  announced  in  convention  that 
Cass  was  her  second  choice,  the  people  of  the 
country  saw  that  she  had  practically  given  way 
before  the  popular  demands  for  the  Northwestern 
candidate.  But  the  party  was  not  without  its 
schisms.  New  York  was  torn  by  conflicting  fac 
tions,  separated  largely  on  personal  issues.  The 
fond  personal  attachment  for  Van  Buren,  which 
argues  more  strongly  than  words  that  he  was  not 
all  a  political  juggler,  held  many  old  stalwarts 
of  the  party  in  faithful  adherence  to  him.  His 
rejection  by  the  convention  of  1844  because  of 
his  opposition  to  annexation  had  won  a  semi-trust 
ful  respect  from  the  haters  of  slavery  who  were 
not  of  his  party,  and  had  kindled  an  unexpected 
spark  in  the  hearts  of  his  old  friends,  who  had 
seen  no  wrong  in  human  bondage  till  their  chief 
was  repudiated  by  the  slave  owners.  Silas  Wright, 


CANDIDATE   FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY      241 

a  Van  Buren  Democrat,  had  accepted  the  nomina 
tion  for  governor  in  1844,  and  his  name  was  in 
voked  in  behalf  of  Polk  and  the  straight  ticket. 
In  spite  of  this,  the  "  wheelhorses "  of  the  party 
were  not  rewarded  for  their  labors;  after  some 
offers  to  give  what  the  Van  Buren  faction  did  not 
want,  the  spoils  were  turned  over  to  the  other 
faction  by  the  President,  who  was  thrown  into  an 
agony  of  jealousy  when  it  was  asserted  that  Wright 
had  elected  him.  Hunger  for  office,  therefore, 
and  disappointment  put  the  disaffected  ever  more 
at  variance  with  the  orthodox  Democrats  who  sup 
ported  the  administration.  The  supporters  of 
Wright  and  Van  Buren  were  sneered  at  as  "Barn 
burners,"  a  name  borrowed  from  the  recent  dis 
turbances  in  Rhode  Island,  where  the  defeated 
Dorrites,  it  was  alleged,  had  sought  revenge  by 
burning  the  barns  of  the  law-and-order  party.1 
Their  tampering  with  anti-slavery  suggested  that 
the  name  was  an  allusion  to  an  "anti-Radical 
story  of  a  thick-skulled  Dutchman  who  had  burnt 
his  barn  to  clear  it  of  rats  and  mice."2  Marcy's 
faction,  representing  the  conservative  men  of  the 
party,  who  were  ready  to  abide  by  the  pro-slavery 
acts  of  the  administration,  were  dubbed  "Old 
Hunkers,"  the  name  referring  to  their  "hanker 
ing  "  for  office,  or  perhaps  simply  to  their  heavy, 
plodding  conservatism  in  matters  of  state  policy. 
As  the  slavery  question  came  more  prominently 

1  Autobiography  of  Thurlow  Weed,  vol.  i.  p.  534. 

2  Whig  Almanac,  1849,  p.  11. 


242  LEWIS  CASS 

before  the  country,  the  Barnburners  and  the  Whigs 
in  New  York  cooperated  to  discountenance  slavery 
extension,  and  the  two  factions  of  the  Democracy 
became  more  widely  separated.  Many,  of  course, 
were  not  so  much  friends  of  freedom  as  foes  to 
those  who  had  disappointed  their  own  fond  hopes 
for  their  chief;  and  longings  for  revenge  were  at 
the  bottom  of  many  of  their  aspirations  for  free 
soil.  Such  persons  ultimately  dropped  back  into 
the  pro-slavery,  non-interference  wing  of  the  party, 
so  soon  as  personal  disputes  again  gave  place  to 
vital  political  principles.  A  moral  reform  gets 
no  real  life  blood  from  pique. 

After  the  Democratic  convention  of  Syracuse, 
September,  1847,  the  warring  cliques  were  so 
widely  separated  by  questions  of  policy,  as  well 
as  by  jealousy,  that  they  can  scarcely  be  consid 
ered  portions  of  one  party.  At  that  time  a  reso 
lution  was  offered  on  the  part  of  the  Barnburners, 
declaring  "uncompromising  hostility"  to  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery  into  the  Territories  then  free. 
The  refusal  of  the  convention,  which  was  plainly 
in  the  hands  of  the  Hunkers,  to  accept  this  caused 
the  secession  of  their  opponents,  who  thereupon 
organized  for  themselves,  and  prepared  to  contest 
the  seats  of  the  delegates  chosen  for  the  national 
Democratic  convention.  The  Van  Buren  men  an 
nounced  the  severance  of  all  bonds  which  would 
bind  them  to  vote  for  a  presidential  candidate  who 
was  pledged  against  the  Wilmot  proviso.  Thus 
the  fall  elections  of  1847  in  New  York  showed  how 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY      243 

utterly  demoralized  the  party  was  in  that  State; 
the  Whigs  elected  their  ticket  by  over  thirty  thou 
sand  majority,  and  unless  these  grievous  wounds 
could  be  healed  there  was  little  hope  for  the  can 
didates  presented  by  the  Baltimore  convention. 

But  the  healing  art  is  quite  beyond  the  intelli 
gence  of  a  popular  gathering,  and  when  the  na 
tional  convention  met,  in  May,  1848,  it  attempted 
a  simple  cure  by  offering  to  admit  both  factions 
to  active  participation  in  its  proceedings.  The 
committee  on  credentials  first  tried  to  bind  both 
delegations  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  conven 
tion.  This  the  Barnburners  refused  to  consent 
to,  and  in  consequence  New  York  had  no  further 
share  in  the  proceedings.  Cass  was  nominated 
on  the  fourth  ballot.  General  William  O.  Butler 
of  Tennessee  was  presented  for  vice-president. 
These  nominations  were  received  with  satisfaction 
by  the  party.  Independent  newspapers  acknow 
ledged  the  upright  character  and  ability  of  Gen 
eral  Cass,  and  prophesied  his  election  unless  the 
Whigs  should  present  a  man  who  possessed  the 
popular  confidence  and  respect.  Success  was, 
however,  far  from  certain.  The  Hunkers  acqui 
esced  quite  readily,  and  were  thus  fairly  installed 
as  the  "regular"  Democratic  party  of  New  York. 
But  the  Barnburners  were  now  more  fierce  than 
ever,  for  the  Van  Buren  men  had  never  forgiven 
Cass  for  his  candidacy  in  1844;  and,  moreover, 
he  now  stood  out  conspicuously  as  the  opponent 
of  the  Wilmot  proviso.  Those  who  were  Free- 


244  LEWIS  CASS 

Soilers  for  personal  considerations,  as  well  as  those 
who  had  conscientious  scruples,  were  held  by  this 
nomination  in  political  affinity. 

The  Baltimore  convention  handled  the  slavery 
question  with  that  masterly  caution  which  was  to 
characterize  its  action  until  the  Rebellion.  The 
Southern  wing  must  be  kept  true  to  its  work  by 
statements  which  were  also  shrewdly  calculated 
not  to  turn  away  Northern  adherents.  From  this 
time  forward  the  regular  programme  was  to  depre 
cate  discussion,  and  to  beseech  the  people  of  the 
North  to  rest  in  security  on  the  bosom  of  the  Con 
stitution.  A  platform  of  platitudes  declared  that 
Congress  had  no  authority  to  interfere  with  slavery 
in  the  States, — a  very  safe  proposition,  —  and 
then  condemned  all  efforts  to  induce  it  to  interfere 
with  questions  of  slavery,  or  to  take  "incipient 
steps  thereto."  Yancey  of  Alabama  offered  a  reso 
lution  so  cleverly  worded  that  Benton  himself 
seems  to  have  misunderstood  the  meaning  of  its 
rejection:  "The  doctrine  of  non-interference  with 
the  rights  of  property  of  any  portion  of  this  con 
federation,  be  it  in  the  States  or  in  the  Territories, 
by  any  other  than  the  parties  interested  in  them, 
is  the  true  republican  doctrine  recognized  by  this 
body."  This  article  of  faith  was  rejected  by  a 
vote  of  246  against  36.  The  non-interference  ad 
vocated  by  Yancey  was  apparently  the  absolute 
"non-interference"  of  Calhoun.  The  refusal  of 
the  convention  to  accept  the  resolution  may  have 
come  merely  from  a  wish  not  to  publish  its  senti- 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY       245 

meiits;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  have  been 
a  tacit  declaration  of  a  belief  in  the  right  of  States 
and  Territories  to  "interfere"  and  to  settle  the 
question  of  slavery  within  their  limits,  which  was 
the  Cass  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty. 

Upon  receiving  the  news  of  his  nomination, 
General  Cass  wrote  a  brief  letter  of  acceptance, 
acquiescing  in  the  platform  of  the  convention. 
He  stated  his  determination,  if  elected,  not  to  be 
a  candidate  for  reelection,  a  pledge  that  seems  to 
have  had  a  certain  popularity  in  those  days.  He 
believed  that  the  real  difference  between  the  two 
great  parties  was  the  difference  between  Hamilton- 
ism  and  Jeffersonism.  With  a  "sacred  regard  to 
4  the  principles  and  compromises  of  the  Constitu 
tion, '  "  he  earnestly  desired  their  maintenance  "in 
a  spirit  of  moderation  and  brotherly  love  so  vitally 
essential  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union."  He  at 
once  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  as  inconsistent 
with  his  presidential  candidacy,  and  prepared  for 
the  active  work  of  the  campaign. 

The  Whig  party  had  no  principle  it  dared  to 
avow.  It  had  been  so  long  toying  with  its  better 
self  that  a  serious  regard  for  its  own  high  aims 
seemed  lost  in  the  frivolity  of  the  excited  hunt  for 
office.  At  the  best  the  party  was  moribund;  but 
it  was  determined  now  upon  one  frantic  effort  for 
success;  for  the  dragon  of  Democracy  seemed  to 
sit  as  perpetual  guardian  of  the  golden  apples  of 
the  public  patronage.  Yet  its  course  for  the  past 
few  years  had  been  its  greatest.  Its  leaders  had 


246  LEWIS   CASS 

constantly  objected  to  the  crimes  of  "Polk  the 
Mendacious;"  and  had  it  now  dared  to  utter  the 
thought  which  arose  in  it,  a  new  lease  of  life  would 
have  been  given  to  it;  nay,  more,  the  very  foun 
tain  of  youth  was  at  its  lips,  offering  a  vigor  which 
it  had  never  yet  possessed  in  the  vital  elixir  of  a 
great  moral  principle.  Clay,  still  at  the  head  of 
the  party,  held  the  deep  affection  of  its  members. 
His  many  defeats,  however,  had  tempered  their 
admiration  with  discretion,  and  though  he  was 
hopeful  and  bright  under  the  lengthening  shadows 
of  age,  and  felt  his  heart  beat  as  quickly  at  the 
prospect  of  success  as  it  had  done  twenty  years 
before,  even  some  of  his  personal  friends  and  de 
votees  searched  for  some  one  who  would  win  more 
votes  and  appeal  to  the  people  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  novelty.  Webster  never  had  any  chance  for 
nomination  to  the  presidency,  as  indeed  no  New 
England  man  of  principle  and  vigor  could  have. 
Scott  had  won  his  spurs  in  the  war  of  1812,  and 
had  since  that  time  been  kept  before  the  people 
because  of  his  military  position.  The  Mexican 
war  gave  him  opportunities  to  attract  attention, 
but  he  was  from  the  first  overshadowed  by  Taylor, 
whose  rough  energy  had  caught  the  popular  fancy, 
ever  ready  to  clothe  with  heroic  ornaments  and 
to  endow  with  heroic  spirit  the  image  of  its  own 
worshiped  self.  Such  has  been  the  history  of 
the  Democratic  spirit.  Not  even  Jefferson,  who 
taught  and  led,  became  the  perfect  popular  hero; 
but  Jackson,  who  certainly  did  not  pose  above  the 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY       247 

people  to  influence  or  instruct  them,  became  the 
one  real  dictator  whom  the  country  has  had.  Tay 
lor,  therefore,  from  the  first  was  sure  of  strong 
support  in  opposition  to  the  other  three  possible 
candidates,  if  he  could  be  brought  before  the  peo 
ple  with  adroitness,  and  could  be  shown  in  poli 
tics,  as  well  as  in  war,  to  be  possessed  of  a  rough, 
hearty  devotion  to  his  country's  interests.  He 
must,  of  course,  have  slight  predilections  to  Whig- 
gery  to  keep  the  party  in  countenance.  But  the 
country  was  for  the  moment  weary  of  this  ceaseless 
conflict  of  old  party  principles,  of  questions  about 
national  banks  and  internal  improvements;  the 
Whigs  desired  above  all  to  shun  any  true  issue 
brought  up  by  the  war  and  the  new  territory ;  and 
the  candidate  who  has  no  gospel  to  preach  is  sure 
of  the  support  of  those  who  would  rather  talk  than 
listen. 

Thurlow  Weed  takes  to  himself  the  credit  of 
first  proposing  the  name  of  General  Taylor.  Soon 
after  the  battle  of  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  in  May, 
1846,  this  cunning  prophet,  who  in  the  past  had 
often  played  the  Cassandra  in  Whig  councils,  met 
the  brother  of  Zachary  Taylor,  and  after  asking 
him  of  the  general's  health  and  inquiring  as  to  his 
political  "prejudices,"  remarked  quietly,  "Your 
brother  is  to  be  our  next  president. "  Weed  thought 
it  advisable  to  send  the  "rough  and  ready"  soldier 
some  suggestions  concerning  his  conduct,  and  they 
admirably  illustrate  the  nature  of  this  whole  cam 
paign  from  the  Whig  standpoint.  The  general 


248  LEWIS  CASS 

was  warned  that  if  he  kept  "his  eyes  toward  Mex 
ico,  closing  them  and  his  ears  to  all  that  was  pass 
ing  behind  him,  the  presidential  question  would 
take  care  of  itself  and  of  him;  .  .  .  and  that, 
finally,  if  General  Taylor  himself  left  the  question 
entirely  to  the  people  they  would  certainly  elect 
him."  At  the  start  Taylor  was  probably  quite  in 
earnest  in  his  short  letter,  which  said  that  he  had 
enough  on  hand  in  Mexico  without  paying  any 
attention  to  presidential  prospects.  Until  the  con 
vention  he  was  fairly  circumspect  and  silent.  In 
the  beginning  surprised  at  his  own  prominence 
and  distrusting  his  own  ability,  he  soon  came  to 
look  with  the  eyes  of  others,  and  to  entertain  an 
ambition  which  bade  fair  to  make  him  dangerously 
restless.  But  he  consistently  proclaimed  himself  a 
candidate  of  the  whole  people  rather  than  a  strait 
ened  party  man,  and  finally  said  he  would  not  with 
draw  even  if  Clay  were  nominated,  for  no  nomina 
tion,  he  said,  would  occasion  a  change  of  principles 
or  make  him  the  creature  of  party  prejudices. 

The  Whig  convention  assembled  in  Philadel 
phia  June  7,  1848.  An  exciting  contest  followed. 
While  the  majority  of  the  party  still  clung  fondly 
to  the  idol  of  their  past,  the  chief  engineers  of  the 
machine  had  determined  that  sentiment  must  make 
way  for  availability.  On  the  first  ballot  Taylor 
received  111  votes,  Clay  97,  Scott  43,  Webster 
22.  On  the  fourth  Taylor  had  171  and  Scott  63. 
Clay  had  but  32  and  Webster  13.  Millard  Fill- 
more  of  New  York  was  nominated  for  vice-presi- 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY      249 

dent.  Such  was  the  result  of  the  convention, 
which  was  branded  as  the  "slaughter-house  of 
Whig  principles." 

There  was  only  one  issue  before  the  country, 
and  that  was  whether  or  not  the  new  territory  of 
the  West  was  to  be  given  to  slavery  or  dedicated 
to  freedom.  But  the  convention  retained  its  self- 
possession  with  regard  to  this  matter  as  patiently  as 
had  its  opponent,  and  was  content  to  push  on  to 
the  hustings  a  man  who  stood  for  no  policy,  whose 
ideas  were  not  known  on  a  single  great  problem 
of  government,  who  had  no  experience  in  civil 
life,  who  had  never  so  much  as  exercised  the  right 
of  suffrage,  whose  knowledge  of  public  men  and 
events  was  confined  to  the  information  he  might 
desultorily  gather  at  a  frontier  post  from  the  news 
papers  and  periodicals  of  the  day.  But  there  were 
many  members  of  this  assembly  who  would  not  be 
bound  by  its  insolent  indifference  to  the  sentiment 
animating  the  great  mass  of  the  party,  especially 
in  New  England  and  the  Northwest.  In  Massa 
chusetts  there  was  a  division  into  "Cotton  Whigs  " 
and  "Conscience  Whigs,"  and  in  the  Northwest 
not  only  did  the  Liberty  party  have  strength,  but 
the  Whigs  also  in  various  ways  had  proclaimed 
opposition  to  slavery  extension.  In  the  conven 
tion,  immediately  after  the  announcement  that 
Taylor  had  received  the  nomination,  a  series  of 
declarations  were  made  by  delegates  from  Massa 
chusetts  and  Ohio  which  caused  the  wildest  excite 
ment,  and  showed  clearly  enough  the  disorganiza- 


250  LEWIS  CASS 

tion  of  the  old  party.  Allen  of  Massachusetts 
pronounced  the  Whig  party  disbanded,  uttering 
the  prophetic  words  that  "under  the  providence 
of  God  its  dissolution  may  be  for  the  benefit  of 
humanity."  Henry  Wilson  proclaimed  that  he 
would  not  recognize  the  nomination.  "We  have 
nominated  a  candidate  who  has  said  to  the  nation 
that  he  will  not  be  bound  by  the  principles  of  any 
party.  Sir,  I  will  go  home,  and,  so  help  me  God, 
I  will  do  all  I  can  to  defeat  the  election  of  that 
candidate."  Many  complained  because  "free  soil 
and  free  territory"  had  yielded  to  the  discipline 
of  the  selfish  heavily  laden  South,  and  because 
machine  politics  and  chicanery  had  overborne  the 
real  wishes  of  the  people.  "That  great  moral 
principle,"  said  Campbell  of  Ohio,  "which  has 
fastened  itself  so  firmly  on  the  free  Whigs  of 
Ohio,  will  arouse  to  action,  in  all  the  majesty 
of  her  strength,  the  young  giant  of  the  West." 
How  true  this  was  the  speaker  himself  could 
not  have  known;  the  whole  gigantic  power  of  the 
West  was  to  arise  in  a  righteous  fury  in  defense 
of  this  great  moral  idea;  caution  and  old-fashioned 
regard  for  order  and  organization  might  still 
keep  many  within  the  old  lines;  but  the  recre 
ancy  of  the  Whig  party  to  the  fondest  hopes 
of  the  free  Northwest  must  sooner  or  later  occa 
sion  the  conception  of  a  new  and  overshadowing 
party,  untrammeled  by  a  past,  unburdened  by 
dead  issues,  pressing  forward  to  the  goal  of  a  high 
calling. 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY      251 

If  the  two  great  parties  were  satisfied  to  shut 
their  eyes  to  danger,  and  to  pretend  that  there 
was  none,  simply  because  they  would  not  see  it, 
such  voluntary  blindness  was  intolerable  for  many 
whose  vision  had  been  touched  by  the  entering 
light  of  truth.  In  the  evening  after  the  nomina 
tion  of  Taylor,  fifteen  of  the  dissatisfied  delegates 
met  to  consider  plans  for  the  future.  A  mass 
convention  of  the  citizens  of  Ohio  in  favor  of  "free 
territory  "  had  been  summoned  to  meet  in  Colum 
bus  in  June,  and  these  fifteen  conspirators  for 
liberty  decided  to  use  their  efforts  to  persuade  this 
convention  to  issue  a  call  for  a  national  gathering 
at  Buffalo.  The  Ohio  convention  issued  such  a 
summons  for  August  9.  About  the  same  time 
the  Barnburners  met  in  Utica.  A  letter  was  read 
from  Martin  Van  Buren,  expressing  his  determi 
nation  not  to  accept  a  nomination,  declaring  his 
inability  to  vote  for  either  Taylor  or  Cass,  and 
branding  the  extension  of  slavery  as  a  "moral 
curse."  In  spite  of  this  declaration  he  was  chosen 
by  the  convention.  Henry  Dodge,  United  States 
Senator  from  Wisconsin,  was  selected  as  the  can 
didate  for  vice-president.  Van  Buren  accepted. 
Dodge  concluded  to  support  Cass.  In  November, 
1847,  the  Liberty  party  had  nominated  John  P. 
Hale  of  New  Hampshire  for  president,  but  there 
was  definite  hope  that  the  action  of  the  Buffalo 
convention  would  be  ratified.  All  waited,  there 
fore,  with  some  anxiety  for  that  meeting.  Already 
the  Democratic  papers  were  furious  because  the 


252  LEWIS  CASS 

"Little  Magician"  had  forgotten  his  past  "great 
ness,"  and  revealed  the  truth  of  the  "federal 
charges"  that  "Mr.  Van  Buren's  distinguished 
characteristics  are  selfishness  and  a  propensity  for 
intrigue."1  Even  if  there  were  no  confluence  of 
the  different  anti-slavery  streams,  Cass's  chances 
in  New  York  were  greatly  lessened  by  the  Barn 
burner  discontent,  and  party  hatred  of  the  "rene 
gades  "  was  proportionately  increased. 

On  August  9  there  assembled  at  Buffalo  a 
strange  company.  The  Barnburners,  who  had 
been  orthodox  Democrats,  supporters  of  Jackson 
and  Van  Buren  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  party, 
met  with  delegates  of  the  Liberty  party,  who  not 
long  before  had  been  hated  as  crazy  fanatics ;  the 
"Conscience  Whigs"  of  Massachusetts,  the  free- 
territory  men  from  Ohio,  the  disappointed  Clay 
Whigs,  who  had  cursed  the  supporters  of  Birney 
four  years  before,  the  "Land  Reformers"  and 
"Workingmen  of  New  York,"  and  the  advocates 
of  cheap  postage,  came  together  as  strange  bed 
fellows  in  the  misery  of  an  eventful  crisis.  This 
Free-Soil  movement  has  often  been  denominated 
a  Democratic  movement.  The  enumeration  of  the 
elements  given  above  shows  us  that  no  old  estab 
lished  party  name  can  be  applied  to  it.  The 
party  was  composed  of  various  elements  now 
united  for  a  common  purpose.  Some  of  the  men 
of  this  convention  were  to  drop  back  into  the  old 
Democratic  ranks ;  others  were  to  be  charter  mem' 
1  New  York  Sun. 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY       253 

bers  of  the  Republican  party.  Samuel  J.  Tilden 
was  there  as  well  as  Charles  Francis  Adams  and 
Salmon  P.  Chase. 

The  platform,  chiefly  the  work  of  Mr.  Chase,1 
was  a  masterpiece,  filled  with  ringing  sentences, 
and  charged  with  enthusiasm.  "Congress,"  it  de 
clared  in  a  forcible  aphorism,  "has  no  more  power 
to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a  king."  "Thun 
ders  of  applause  "  followed  the  reading  of  such 
clarion -toned  sentences  as  this:  "Resolved,  that 
we  inscribe  on  our  banner  free  soil,  free  speech, 
free  labor,  and  free  men,  and  under  it  we  will 
fight  on  and  fight  ever,  until  a  triumphant  victory 
shall  reward  our  exertions."  The  convention  from 
the  first  seemed  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of 
the  occasion  and  the  weight  of  its  responsibility. 
And  yet  one  must  confess  that  there  was  a  very 
mundane  alloy  in  this  heavenly  sentiment;  for 
many  longed  for  revenge  on  Cass  and  the  Hunkers, 
and  were  willing  to  obtain  it  by  shouting  for  free 
soil.  Van  Buren  was  nominated  amid  acclama 
tions  of  enthusiasm.  The  conscientious  Free-Soil- 
ers  were  willing  to  take  the  bitter  portion  in  hum 
ble  hope  that  good  would  result.  The  name  of 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  the  son  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  was  placed  below  that  of  the  old  chief  of 
the  Albany  Regency,  the  calm  and  gentle  man  to 
whom  "the  old  man  eloquent"  had  once  ascribed 
"fawning  servility"  and  "profound  dissimulation 
and  duplicity."  How  strangely  in  1837  would 

1  G.  W.  Julian,  Political  Recollections,  p.  58. 


264  LEWIS  CASS 

have  sounded  the  war-cry  of  1848,   "Van  Buren 
and  Free  Soil  —  Adams  and  Liberty." 

This  Buffalo  convention  was  a  prominent  event 
in  the  life  of  Cass.  The  nomination  of  Van 
Buren,  this  combination  of  dissatisfied  Democrats 
and  Liberty  men,  assured  his  defeat,  unless  his 
party,  in  spite  of  its  distressed  condition  in  New 
York,  should  work  with  a  rare  courage  and  vehe 
mence.  But  Cass's  career  is  peculiarly  connected 
with  the  development  of  the  Free-Soil  movement 
from  the  point  of  view  of  principle.  He  was 
hailed  throughout  this  campaign  as  the  candidate 
of  the  vigorous  West.  He  was  rightly  called  the 
"Father  of  the  West."  "The  history  of  the 
Western  States  forms  a  part  of  his  biography," 
the  "Detroit  Free  Press"  said  with  truth.  But 
a  calm  scrutiny  of  the  forces  at  work  in  the  old 
Northwest,  for  which  he  had  done  so  much,  shows 
that  its  vigor  was  no  longer  his.  Its  strong  and 
characteristic  sections,  which  had  formed  its  very 
pith  and  marrow,  were  no  longer  in  sympathy 
with  their  great  leader  and  representative.  Al 
ready  the  Western  Reserve  had  shown  its  parent 
age  by  sending  Giddings  to  Congress  to  labor  by 
the  side  of  Adams.  The  Puritan  stock  of  Ohio, 
awakened  to  the  existence  of  a  new  crusade  for 
liberty,  brought  forward  its  hard  sense,  sound 
morality,  and  obstinate  adherence  to  principle. 
"Beware!  the  blood  of  the  Roundheads  is  aroused," 
shouted  a  delegate  in  the  Buffalo  Convention. 
This  is  not  mere  metaphor,  it  is  sober  statement 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY      255 

of  fact.  The  counties  of  the  Northwest  first  settled 
by  New  Englanders  furnished  early  supporters  of 
the  Liberty  party,  active  advocates  of  free  soil. 
There  the  Republican  party  had  its  strength  in 
the  days  of  its  youth,  when  all  the  vigor  of  its 
new  life  was  given  to  assailing  the  aggressions  of 
a  national  sin.  Political  affiliations  are  not  soon 
forgotten,  and  to-day  Republican  strength  lies  in 
this  old  robust  region  of  Ohio.  A  political  party 
could  gerrymander  the  State  successfully  if  its 
managers  were  acquainted  with  the  genealogy  of 
its  counties.  The  New  Connecticut  has  given  us 
Giddings  and  Garfield.  It  has  given  us  many 
pathfinders  in  unexplored  regions  of  culture,  educa 
tion,  and  liberal  citizenship.  We  must  not  omit, 
however,  the  influence  of  that  milder  Puritan  of 
mysticism,  the  Quaker ;  his  kind  and  gentle  influ 
ence  is  traceable  through  the  Northwest.  The 
inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania  pushed  their  way 
westward  through  the  middle  of  Ohio  across  the 
Indiana  line. 

Speaking  generally,  the  New  England  township 
system  has  most  effectually  made  its  way  westward 
along  the  parallels  of  latitude.  Michigan  and 
Wisconsin  adopted  the  township  nearly  in  its 
primitive  simplicity.  There  was  the  same  tend 
ency  in  northern  Ohio ;  and  wherever  we  see  the 
self-governing  spirit  of  New  England,  there  we 
see  in  the  field  of  national  affairs  a  relationship 
with  the  politics  of  the  same  stalwart  section. 
The  early  settlers  of  Michigan -were  in  a  marked 


256  LEWIS  CASS 

degree  from  Massachusetts  or  from  New  York, 
to  which  latter  State  many  of  them  had  moved 
from  homes  east  of  the  Hudson.  The  political 
and  educational  history  of  Michigan  has  its  indi 
viduality,  but  the  influence  of  inherited  tendencies 
is  apparent.  Of  course  in  early  days  the  popular 
creed  of  Jacksonian  Democracy  made  itself  felt 
among  the  people  of  a  new  country.  But  it  is 
fair  to  assume  that  Michigan  would  have  swung 
into  the  Whig  column  much  sooner  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  personal  admiration  and  respect  which 
its  people  felt  for  Lewis  Cass. 

An  examination  of  the  vote  of  Ohio  in  1844 
will  exhibit  the  truth  of  these  general  statements. 
There  were  seventy-nine  counties  in  Ohio  in  1844, 
but  Trumbull  County  alone,  the  heart  of  this 
western  New  England,  gave  one  eleventh  of  all 
the  votes  cast  for  the  Liberty  ticket  in  Ohio.  Five 
counties  of  this  same  region,  containing  one  elev 
enth  of  the  total  vote  of  the  State,  gave  more  than 
one  fourth  of  the  Liberty  vote.  And  if  one  exam 
ines  more  closely  he  will  see  even  more  definite 
proof  of  the  assertion.  The  Whigs,  of  course, 
had  their  strength  largely  in  the  districts  where 
the  Liberty  and  Free-Soil  movement  manifested 
itself.  In  1848  the  twentieth  Congressional  dis 
trict,  including  the  counties  of  Ashtabula,  Cuya- 
hoga,  Geauga,  and  Lake,  cast  7338  Free-Soil 
votes,  only  700  less  than  the  whole  Liberty  vote 
of  Ohio  in  1844.  That  district  gave  Van  Buren 
three  fourths  as  many  votes  as  were  received  by 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE   PRESIDENCY      257 

both  Cass  and  Taylor.  In  this  election  the  Free- 
Soilers  held  the  balance  of  power  in  the  State, 
casting  35,354  votes;  but  of  these  nearly  one  half 
were  cast  by  the  three  districts  of  the  Western 
Reserve,  although  there  were  twenty-one  districts 
in  the  State. 

But  northeastern  Ohio,  the  peculiar  centre  of 
western  New  Englandism,  has  not  simply  followed 
and  reproduced.  Modern  Puritanism  and  the  spirit 
of  the  latter-day  Ironsides  have  here  deeply  cut 
their  lines.  The  saying  is  not  uncommon  that  the 
Western  Reserve  is  more  New  England  than  New 
England  herself.1  Here  the  Yankee  character 
developed  under  new  and  inspiring  conditions, 
and  furnished  brain  and  conscience,  sincerity  and 
moral  enthusiasm  to  the  whole  country.  Its  ear 
lier  inhabitants  were,  it  is  true,  rough  in  their 
manners  and  "stupid"  in  religion;2  most  of  its 
first  settlers  perhaps  hurried  to  the  West  to  escape 
the  iron -clad  theology  and  the  stilted  social  regime 
of  old,  dogmatic,  straight-laced  Connecticut,  and 
there  in  the  freer  air  of  a  new  country,  unburdened 
by  prescription,  there  grew  a  more  liberal  theology, 
a  more  generous  citizenship,  and  a  more  human 
idea  of  liberty.  Slipping  their  old  cables,  these 
thoughtful  people  drifted  off  occasionally  into 
"isms  "  and  fanaticisms.  But  this  was  the  natural 
revolt  from  a  sad  theology  and  acrid  Federalism, 
and  with  this  personal  freedom  of  thought  was  a 

1  The  Old  Northwest,  Hinsdale,  p.  388. 

2  Robbins's  Diary,  p.  225. 


258  LEWIS  CASS 

sound  Puritan  principle  and  a  guiding  common 
sense.  President  Storrs  of  Western  Keserve  Col 
lege  preached  anti-slavery  doctrines  as  early  as 
1832, l  and  planted  the  humanizing  seed  in  youth 
ful  minds  of  northeastern  Ohio.  The  result  was 
that  the  Western  Reserve  had  a  definitely  formu 
lated  anti-slavery  sentiment  before  any  other  sec 
tion  of  the  country.  John  Quincy  Adams  led  his 
district  and  showed  it  the  way.  But  Giddings 
was  the  child  of  his  surroundings,  the  voice  and 
expression  of  the  will  of  his  constituents. 

Ohio  has  been  taken  to  illustrate  the  energy  of 
New  England  in  the  West,  because,  the  early 
settlers  coming  into  the  State  within  well-known 
geographical  lines,  their  influence  is  easily  trace 
able  and  capable  of  definite  description  and  com 
parison.  The  compact  New  Englandism  of  the 
Western  Reserve  has  made  itself  conspicuous,  but 
the  same  general  statements  of  tendencies  and 
influences  will  hold  true  of  the  whole  Northwest. 
When  once  Michigan  was  aroused  to  a  sense  of 
the  real  state  of  things  she  too  fell  in  beside  Ohio, 
and  has  remained  her  political  sister. 

Cass  was  admired  and  respected  by  his  State. 
Even  those  who  disagreed  with  him  in  politics 
found  it  hard  to  oppose  him  at  the  polls.  Upon 
the  appearance  of  the  Nicholson  letter,  many  of  his 
old  admirers  felt  constrained  to  turn  against  him. 
Yet  they  still  had  faith  in  him  as  a  man.  "From 
the  time  of  the  publication  of  this  letter,"  writes 

i  The  Old  Northwest,  Hinsdale,  p.  392. 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY       259 

one  of  his  friendly  enemies,  who  used  every  effort 
to  defeat  him,  "I  opposed  the  election  of  General 
Cass  to  the  presidency,  though  it  cost  me  a  pang 
as  keen  as  to  have  set  myself  against  my  own 
father."1  It  was  believed  by  those  who  knew  the 
liberal  character  of  the  general  that  he  thought 
his  theory  of  "popular  sovereignty"  would  assure 
in  the  end  free  Territories.  And  so  it  would,  if 
the  slave  power  had  allowed  a  fair  application  of 
it,  and  not  simply  used  it  until  it  was  no  longer 
serviceable.  The  consistency  of  Cass  was  unques 
tioned  by  all  who  knew  his  previous  career;  his 
sterling  character,  his  honesty,  his  uprightness  in 
political  affairs,  the  purity  and  charm  of  his  pri 
vate  life  were  admired  by  all  who  were  not  blinded 
by  party  animosity.  So  in  spite  of  differences 
and  these  Free-Soil  antipathies,  in  spite  of  the 
most  malignant  attacks  upon  Cass  by  the  Whig 
newspaper  of  his  own  city,  which  denied  him 
credit  even  for  his  masterly  governorship,  Cass 
carried  Michigan  by  a  good  plurality.  Yet  Van 
Buren  received  over  10,000  votes, — more  than 
Cass's  majority  over  Taylor.  Cass  also  received 
the  support  of  Ohio,  a  rare  tribute  to  the  personal 
admiration  and  respect  for  the  man.  He  received 
16,415  votes  more  than  Taylor,  whereas  Clay  had 
defeated  Polk  by  5940.  The  Northwestern  candi 
date  received  the  electoral  vote  of  every  North 
western  State,  but  in  each  one  the  Whigs  and  the 
Free-Soilers  together  outnumbered  the  Democrats. 

1  Private  and  confidential  letter  to  the  author. 


260  LEWIS  CASS 

Even  young  Wisconsin  gave  10,418  votes  for  Van 
Buren,  more  than  one  fourth  of  the  total  vote  of 
the  State.  A  prophet  was  not  needed  to  trace 
the  future  political  development  of  the  Northwest. 

Cass  was  bitterly  attacked  in  some  portions  of 
the  country,  particularly  in  his  own  section,  be 
cause  he  had  not  accepted  an  invitation  to  attend  a 
convention  at  Chicago,  called  to  discuss  the  subject 
of  internal  improvements.  The  New  West  needed 
the  aid  of  the  general  government  in  developing 
its  resources,  especially  in  opening  its  harbors  for 
commerce.  The  Democrats,  never  lenient  toward 
such  hopes,  had  recently  been  charged  with  "  salt 
water  "  interpretation  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
residents  on  the  fresh  water  of  the  Great  Lakes 
wanted  a  recognition  of  their  claims.  Cass  always 
disclaimed  hostility  to  national  improvements,  and 
afterwards,  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate  in  1851, 
proved  that  his  course  had  been  in  favor  of  such 
assistance  from  the  government.  But  he  was  now 
running  on  a  platform  which  denied  the  constitu 
tionality  of  a  general  improvement  system,  and 
the  severe  and  continuous  attacks  upon  him  in  the 
Whig  papers  on  this  ground  probably  reduced  his 
vote  to  some  extent. 

The  slavery  question  was,  however,  the  promi 
nent  if  not  the  determining  factor  of  the  campaign 
of  1848.  Taylor  was  a  Southern  man,  a  planta 
tion  owner  and  a  slave  owner.  The  South  felt 
that  it  could  trust  him,  that  a  Southern  man  with 
Southern  interests  was  preferable  to  a  Northern 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY       261 

man,  however  Southern  might  be  his  principles. 
A  mass  Democratic  convention  of  the  citizens  of 
Charleston  selected  Taylor  as  their  candidate. 
The  "Kichmond  Times"  said  that  he  was  "thor 
oughly  identified  with  the  South  in  feeling  and 
interest."  He  was  represented  in  Alabama  as  one 
who  loved  "the  South  and  her  cherished  institu 
tions  ; "  and  so,  while  the  Free-Soilers  were  desig 
nating  Cass  and  Taylor  as  "the  Devil  and  Beelze 
bub,"  and  the  Northern  man  was  being  castigated 
in  the  North  for  his  apostasy  to  slavery,  he  was 
marked  by  Southern  Democrats  as  an  unsafe  can 
didate  because  he  was  not,  as  Taylor  was,  a  slave 
holder.  Polk  carried  Georgia  in  1844.  Cass  lost 
it.  The  same  is  true  of  Louisiana.  Everywhere 
south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  the  Democracy 
lost  ground.  Yet  the  Democratic  support  of  Van 
Buren  in  New  York  was  decisive.  This  cannot 
be  attributed  to  anti-slavery  sentiment.  The  Barn 
burners,  fighting  for  political  existence  and  re 
venge,  and  aided  by  opponents  of  slavery,  polled 
more  votes  than  the  "regular"  faction.  This  fact 
proves  that  personal  pique  was  the  great  motive  in 
that  State  of  politicians. 


CHAPTER   IX 
SENATOR.  —  THE  COMPROMISE  OF   1850 

THE  Buffalo  convention  and  the  evident  uneasi 
ness  of  the  North  had  perhaps  influenced  Congress, 
as  it  droned  along  far  into  the  summer  of  1848. 
A  territorial  government  was  given  to  Oregon,  by 
an  act  approved  August  14,  which  extended  over 
that  territory  the  Ordinance  of  1787  with  its  "re 
strictions  and  prohibitions."  But  in  the  meantime 
new  complications  had  arisen,  for  California  was 
even  more  in  need  of  organization  and  government 
than  Oregon  had  been  a  year  before.  Although 
it  was  known  when  California  was  acquired  that 
gold  had  been  found  there  by  the  Mexicans,  the 
idea  of  a  New  Eldorado  did  not  immediately  take 
hold  of  the  people.  An  accidental  discovery  by 
workmen  of  the  yellow  grains  of  gold  in  January, 
1848,  soon  set  the  country  afire,  and  a  perfect 
exodus  from  the  East  began  in  the  early  summer. 
Business  men  and  school-teachers,  lawyers  and 
clergymen,  forsook  their  callings  to  hasten  to  the 
gold  fields;  the  restless  and  unemployed  class  of 
every  community  begged  or  borrowed  money  for 
the  journey.  The  young  men  especially  were  over 
come  with  anxiety  to  make  a  fortune  in  a  moment, 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE   OF   1850    263 

and  quickly  broke  all  ties  which  bound  them  to 
the  humdrum  life  of  the  plodding  East.  The 
"New  York  Tribune  "  estimated  that  8098  persons 
had  set  sail  for  California  between  December  7, 
1848,  and  February  8,  1849.  The  very  crews  of 
the  vessels  deserted  to  dig  for  gold  when  once  they 
had  reached  the  fabled  coast.  "Nothing,  sir," 
wrote  Commodore  Jones  from  Monterey,  "can 
exceed  the  deplorable  state  of  things  in  all  Upper 
California  at  this  time,  growing  out  of  the  mad 
dening  effects  of  the  gold  mania." 1  He  described 
the  country  as  in  a  very  "whirlwind  of  anarchy 
and  confusion  confounded,"  where  life  and  pro 
perty  were  everywhere  in  great  jeopardy. 

When  Congress  met,  in  December,  1848,  it  had 
to  face  a  stormy  and  unsatisfactory  session.  None 
of  the  real  problems  before  the  country  had  been 
solved.  On  the  contrary,  there  were  feelings  of 
greater  bitterness  than  ever.  All  were  uncertain 
about  the  meaning  of  the  election,  except  that  it 
had  disclosed  great  opposition  in  the  North  to  the 
extension  of  slavery  and  an  unexpected  defection 
from  the  ranks  of  the  old  parties.  No  one  knew 
where  the  President-elect  would  stand  on  the  mo 
mentous  issues  which  were  agitating  the  country. 
Had  Cass  been  elected,  every  one  would  have 
known  his  position,  his  belief  in  the  absolute  un 
constitutionally  of  excluding  slavery  from  the  Ter 
ritories  by  act  of  Congress.  Yet  even  an  admirer 
of  him,  with  confidence  in  his  sincerity,  his  up- 
1  October,  1848.  Niles,  vol.  Ixxv.  p.  113. 


264  LEWIS  CASS 

Tightness  and  honor,  would  hesitate  to  assert  that 
under  such  circumstances  his  election  would  have 
been  for  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  Possi 
bly  the  election  of  Taylor  showed  much  more 
clearly  than  anything  else  could  have  done  the 
utter  futility  of  the  Whig  organization  and  the 
folly  of  dodging  principles.  The  only  thing  that 
the  Whigs  gained  by  the  election  was  a  redistri 
bution  of  the  spoils.  Inwardly,  the  party  knew 
not  itself.  One  of  its  greatest  men,  William  H. 
Seward,  who,  faithful  to  his  party,  was  faithful 
also  to  freedom  and  free  territory,  who  had  shown 
many  times  before  his  readiness  to  withstand  the 
slave  power  with  boldness,  was  to  take  his  place  in 
the  Senate  on  the  same  day  that  a  slaveholder,  a 
member  of  the  same  party,  took  the  oath  as  presi 
dent.  Under  such  circumstances  it  was  impossible 
to  foretell  the  future,  or  to  see  even  so  far  as  to 
the  end  of  this  thirtieth  Congress.  In  Ohio  poli 
tics  were  in  such  a  condition  that  Chase,  the  author 
of  the  Buffalo  platform,  was  during  the  winter 
elected  to  the  Senate.  He  had  been  a  Democrat, 
and  perhaps  never  entirely  freed  himself  from  the 
fundamental  ideas  of  the  Democracy,  but  his  clear 
vision  led  him  away  from  the  fold  of  the  old  party, 
and  his  election  was  an  era  in  the  progress  of  Free- 
Soil  ideas  in  the  free  Northwest. 

Measures  were  at  once  introduced  into  the  House 
which  tested  its  sentiment  and  disclosed  unusual 
harmony  among  Northern  members.  From  this 
time  the  part  which  the  Democracy  had  played 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE   OF   1850    265 

since  1844  began  to  react  against  it.  Contrary  to 
its  inherited  belief  that  such  issues  were  not  proper 
material  for  political  discussion,  it  had  allowed 
the  slavery  question  to  become  an  active  political 
principle.  By  its  energetic  advocacy  Texas  and 
the  vast  territory  to  the  west  had  been  acquired, 
and  now  the  Nemesis  was  upon  it.  The  party 
must  either  divide  into  two  opposing  wings  inca 
pable  of  working  together,  or  the  Northern  wing 
must  make  itself  subservient  to  the  interests  of 
the  slaveholders.  To  such  action  we  can  trace  its 
ultimate  loss  of  power  in  the  agricultural  States  of 
the  North,  which  by  all  the  traditions  of  the  past 
were  the  natural  allies  of  the  planting  South.  For 
the  free  Northern  farmer,  whatever  might  be  his 
economic  interests,  was  unable  to  remain  in  a 
party  which  was  devoted  to  slave  labor. 

President  Polk,  in  his  annual  message,  called 
the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  anomalous  condi 
tion  of  New  Mexico  and  California,  and  advised 
that  they  be  given  territorial  governments  at  once, 
and  that  the  Missouri  line  be  extended  to  the 
Pacific.  But  it  was  not  easy  to  do  anything  in 
this  short  session,  and  it  wore  away  to  its  close 
without  any  decision  of  the  great  question. 

Although  Cass  had  shown,  on  the  whole,  remark 
able  strength  in  the  Northwest  and  had  carried 
every  State  in  the  election,  there  was  considerable 
dissatisfaction  in  Michigan  with  the  principles 
for  which  he  stood,  and  there  was  strong  evi 
dence  that  the  anti- slavery  sentiment  had  obtained 


2G6  LEWIS  CASS 

a  hold  upon  many  members  of  his  own  party. 
When  the  legislature  assembled  in  January,  1849, 
it  was  apparent  that  he  was  to  have  difficulty  in 
securing  reelection  to  the  Senate.  Kesolutions 
favoring  the  Wilmot  proviso  and  instructing  sena 
tors  to  vote  for  it  were  passed  by  both  Houses  by 
substantial  majorities,  and  it  did  not  seem  possible 
that  he  could  win  the  requisite  support.  But  he 
was  still  the  leader  of  his  party  and  had  great 
personal  influence,  while  party  discipline  could  be 
relied  upon  to  overcome  a  portion  of  the  opposi 
tion  and  to  force  some  of  the  wavering  members 
into  line.  On  January  23  he  was  reflected  by  a 
vote  of  44  to  38.  Plainly  enough  Cass  no  longer 
represented  as  he  had  done  the  growing  sentiment 
of  the  Northwest.  The  day  of  defeat  might  be 
postponed  by  dint  of  energy  and  party  manage 
ment,  and  if  for  any  reason  a  conservative  spirit 
gained  ground,  he  as  its  conspicuous  exponent 
would  gain  new  support;  but  in  the  end  the  con 
trolling  sympathy  of  Michigan  was  sure  to  be  with 
the  principle  of  Free  Soil,  and  the  growth  of  this 
sentiment  meant  his  ultimate  overthrow.1  Cass 


1  Mr.  T.  C.  Smith,  in  discussing  the  condition  of  the  Free  Soil 
party  in  1849-50,  points  out  the  fact  mentioned  in  the  text  at 
various  times,  viz.,  that  the  personal  influence  of  Cass  was  very 
marked  in  Michigan,  doubtless  retarding  the  growth  or  at  least 
delaying  the  full  expression  of  the  anti-slavery  sentiment.  "  In 
Michigan,"  says  Mr.  Smith,  "  the  one  great  difference  at  the  out 
set  was  that  the  State,  unlike  its  neighbors,,  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
'  boss.'  Lewis  Cass,  though  an  honest,  able  man,  was  a  thorough 
politician  and  partisan,  and  kept  a  controlling  hand  over  every 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE   OF  1850   267 

presented  his  credentials  and  was  sworn  in  on 
March  3.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  during 
the  famous  debate  on  the  appropriation  bill,  which 
lasted  well  on  into  the  morning  of  the  4th.  But 
he  refused  to  take  any  part  in  the  discussion,  on 
the  ground  that  the  Senate  was  adjourned  by  lapse 
of  time  at  midnight  between  the  3d  and  4th. 

Taylor  took  the  oath  of  office  on  Monday,  the 
5th  of  March.  His  cabinet  did  not  stand  for  a 
distinct  principle;  it  contained  four  Southern  re 
presentatives,  one  of  whom  was  an  avowed  pro- 
slavery  man,  and  three  Northern  men,  of  whom 
one  had  an  an ti -slavery  record.  The  President 
himself  was  unquestionably  determined  to  do  what 
seemed  to  him  right,  and  he  proved  himself  singu 
larly  fair  and  candid.  That  the  South  should  be 
robbed  of  its  property  seemed  to  him  wrong;  on 
the  other  hand,  he  could  see  no  justice  in  the  de 
mand  that  the  western  territories  should  be  admit 
ted  with  slavery,  if  the  people  themselves  did  not 
want  it.  He  was  able  to  make  the  non-interfer 
ence  rule  work  both  ways.  The  South  was  furious. 
The  idea  that  the  domain  for  which  it  had  plotted 
and  fought  was  to  be  lost  to  slavery,  after  all,  was 
simply  maddening.  California,  however,  was  in 
need  of  some  government  at  once.  The  existing 
military  rule  was  inappropriate  and  inadequate, 
and  it  seemed  unjust  that  the  people  should  be 

movement  of  his  party  in  the  State."  Smith,  The  Liberty  and  Free 
Soil  Parties  in  the  Northwest,  p.  198.  (N.  Y.  1898.)  This  judg 
ment  confirms  the  result  of  my  own  studies. 


268  LEWIS  CASS 

left  in  anarchy  till  Congress  could  come  to  some 
conclusion  on  slavery,  a  question  which  little  trou 
bled  the  average  gold-hunter  of  the  Pacific  slope. 
The  President  was  ready  to  protect  the  people  if 
they  took  steps  to  organize  a  state  government. 

The  people  of  California  now  gave  a  remark 
able  example  of  the  wonderful  institutional  instinct 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  Of  their  own  accord  they 
adopted  a  constitution,  October,  1849,  established 
a  government,  and  applied  for  admittance  to  the 
Union  as  a  State,  without  having  passed  through 
the  stage  of  territorial  pupilage.  This  step  was 
entirely  in  accord  with  the  wishes  of  President 
Taylor,  who  had  already  sent  an  agent  to  suggest 
this  very  move,  which  was  begun,  however,  before 
he  arrived.  A  clause  prohibiting  slavery  was 
adopted  unanimously  in  the  convention,  and  the 
constitution  was  ratified  by  the  people  with  only 
811  dissenting  votes.  This  was  a  severe  blow  to 
the  South.  It  brought  the  slaveholders  face  to 
face  with  the  weakness  of  their  peculiar  institution ; 
they  saw  the  need  of  the  artificial  aid  of  the  na 
tional  government  if  slavery  was  to  maintain  itself 
against  the  power  of  free  labor  and  the  mighty 
energy  of  the  North.  Hence  came  the  bitter  ve 
hemence  of  despair  and  the  instinctive  fierceness 
of  a  struggle  for  self-preservation.  From  this 
time  forward  the  thought  of  dissolution  of  the 
Union  gradually  grew  into  a  confirmed  belief  of 
its  necessity,  and  continually  became  more  familiar 
to  the  Southern  people. 


SENATOR  — THE  COMPROMISE   OF  1850    269 

In  January,  1849,  the  legislature  of  Michigan 
passed  a  joint  resolution  concerning  the  extension 
of  slavery  to  the  new  Territories.  It  repudiated 
squatter  sovereignty,  and  asserted  that  Congress 
had  the  power,  and  that  it  was  its  duty,  to  prohibit 
by  enactment  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  the 
West.  The  senators  were  "instructed"  and  the 
representatives  requested  to  use  their  efforts  to 
accomplish  such  an  object.  Cass  was  elected  to 
the  Senate  but  a  few  days  after  these  resolutions 
were  approved,  and  he  therefore  began  his  second 
term  with  the  knowledge  on  both  sides  that  his 
own  beliefs  on  the  great  question  were  different 
from  those  of  a  majority  of  the  legislature  and  of 
his  constituents.  His  election  under  these  circum 
stances  shows  that  he  was  still  trusted,  even  if  he 
did  hold  disagreeable  theories  concerning  slavery. 
Strong  opposition  to  him  had  appeared  in  the 
nomination  by  the  separate  houses;  and  in  the 
joint  election  the  vote  was  close.  The  first  ballot, 
which  actually  tested  his  strength,  gave  him  44 
votes  and  to  all  others  38.  This  indicated  quite 
a  change  in  feeling  when  compared  with  the  action 
of  the  legislature  in  1845,  when  the  opposition 
was  scarcely  worthy  of  consideration.  To  vote 
against  General  Cass  was  a  severe  trial  to  some 
of  his  old  friends,  who  loved  him  personally  and 
admired  him  as  a  statesman;  but  Michigan  was 
on  the  high  road  to  its  later  Republican  beliefs, 
and  in  reelecting  its  trusted  leader  it  was  simply 
postponing  the  day  of  separation  from  him. 


270  LEWIS  CASS 

Some  hoped  that  the  resolution  of  the  legisla 
ture  would  be  binding  on  him;  others  expected 
that  the  difficulty  would  blow  over,  and  that  Cass 
would  thus  avoid  without  disobeying  the  instruc 
tions.  How  clear  and  firm  his  opinions  were, 
however,  is  illustrated  by  his  correspondence  dur 
ing  the  following  autumn.  In  November  he  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  prominent  Democrats  of  New 
York,  among  them  Daniel  E.  Sickles  and  Charles 
O' Conor,  asking  him  to  name  a  day  for  a  public 
dinner  in  his  honor.  "Even  amid  the  fierce  con 
tests  of  party,"  they  said,  "all  men  have  awarded 
to  you  the  praise  and  admiration  due  to  one  who 
has  so  highly  distinguished  himself  as  the  father 
of  the  West,  a  soldier  in  war,  a  statesman  in 
peace,  an  eloquent  advocate  and  defender  of  the 
honor  of  his  country  both  in  councils  at  home  and 
in  her  representation  abroad;  and  therefore  you 
cannot  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  Democracy 
of  this  city,  whose  leader  and  champion  you  are, 
regard  you  with  an  affection  almost  filial."  He 
declined  the  invitation  in  a  vigorous  letter,  in 
which  he  discussed  at  some  length  the  topics  of 
the  day.  His  strong  Western  spirit  plainly  forms 
part  of  his  robust  nature  still;  and  though  grow 
ing  out  of  harmony  with  his  section  in  some  par 
ticulars,  he  has  not  lost  his  sense  of  its  desires  or 
tendencies.  "An  emigrant  to  the  West  in  early 
youth,  the  better  portion  of  my  life  has  been 
passed  in  that  great  contest  with  nature  in  which 
the  forest  has  given  way  and  an  empire  has  arisen, 


SENATOR  — THE  COMPROMISE   OF   1850    271 

already  among  the  most  magnificent  creations  of 
human  industry  and  enterprise.  Placed  in  a  geo 
graphical  position  to  exert  a  powerful  influence 
upon  the  duration  of  the  confederacy  of  republics, 
attached  to  the  Union,  and  to  the  whole  Union, 
and  attached  equally  to  the  principles  of  freedom, 
and  to  the  Constitution  by  which  these  are  guarded 
and  secured,  should  the  time  ever  come,  —  as  I 
trust  it  will  not,  —  and  come  whence  and  why  it 
may,  when  dissolution  shall  find  advocates,  and 
the  hand  of  violence  shall  attempt  to  sever  the 
bond  that  holds  us  together,  the  West  will  rise 
up  as  one  man  to  stay  a  deed  so  fatal  to  the  cause 
of  liberty  here  and  throughout  the  world,  —  aye, 
and  it  will  be  stayed.  Success  can  never  hallow 
the  effort."  He  clearly  foresaw  the  meaning  of 
the  coming  contest,  and  appreciated  the  loyal 
Union  spirit  of  his  constituents.  This  statement 
comes  from  the  leader  of  the  Democratic  party 
who  has  been  accused  of  weak-kneed  subserviency 
to  the  South,  —  from  the  leader  of  a  party  whose 
Northern  members  ten  years  later  too  often  decried 
"a  Union  founded  on  force."  This  is  one  of  the 
first  frank  announcements  from  a  Democratic  poli 
tician  of  the  North  that  peaceful  dissolution  is 
impossible,  —  aye  more,  that  dissolution  can  and 
will  be  prevented.  Such  gift  of  prophecy  lay  in 
his  sympathetic  appreciation  of  popular  feeling, 
in  his  clear  perception  of  actual  facts. 

The   thirty-first   Congress  was  very  able,   and 
one  of  the  most  famous  in  our  history.    The  session 


272  LEWIS   CASS 

lasted  nearly  ten  months,  dragging  its  weary  length 
through  the  summer  of  1850.  Nearly  the  whole 
of  the  first  month  was  consumed  by  the  House 
in  an  endeavor  to  elect  a  speaker,  a  difficult  task, 
inasmuch  as  the  balance  of  power  was  held  by 
the  "immortal  nine,"  dogged  opponents  of  sla 
very.  But  the  territorial  contest,  once  fairly  be 
gun,  continued  with  unflagging  energy  for  months. 
The  President's  message  told  of  the  action  of 
California,  recommended  its  admittance  should  its 
"constitution  be  conformable  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,"  and  advised  Congress  to 
abstain  from  the  discussion  of  "those  exciting 
topics  which  have  hitherto  produced  painful  im 
pressions  on  the  public  mind."  So  mild  an  exhor 
tation  to  temperance  sounded  almost  ludicrous  in 
the  midst  of  the  intense  excitement. 

On  December  27  Foote  of  Mississippi  offered 
a  resolution  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
establish  suitable  territorial  governments  for  Cali 
fornia,  Deseret  (Utah),  and  New  Mexico.  Cass 
spoke  on  this  resolution  January  21  and  22,  He 
desired  to  make  a  complete  exposition  of  his  views, 
and,  if  possible,  to  influence  his  own  State;  for 
he  felt  that  if  the  legislature  persisted  in  its  in 
structions  he  must  resign.  He  spoke  for  the 
greater  portion  of  two  days  with  great  clearness 
and  force,  and  this  speech  stands  to-day  the  most 
complete  defense  of  the  doctrine  of  "squatter  sov 
ereignty"  that  has  ever  been  given.  He  argued 
that  the  people  of  the  Territories  were  capable  of 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE   OF   1850    273 

governing  themselves,  and  that  the  exercise  of 
powers  of  government  by  Congress  would  be  an 
act  of  unwarranted  tyranny,  contrary  to  the  great 
principles  of  American  liberty.  Moreover  there 
was,  he  contended,  no  clause  in  the  Constitution 
which  gives  to  Congress  express  power  to  pass  any 
law  respecting  slavery  in  the  Territories.  Such 
power  was  not  contained  in  the  clause  which  gave 
Congress  power  to  make  "all  needful  rules  and 
regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  pro 
perty  belonging  to  the  United  States,"  for  that  was 
a  power  over  property  and  not  persons ;  a  miscon 
ception  had  arisen  because  of  a  confusion  between 
"territory"  and  "Territory,"  which  latter  was  not 
land,  but  a  political  community  organized  as  a 
territorial  government.  This  proposition  he  dis 
cussed  at  length,  and  with  great  keenness.  He 
then  denied  that  the  authority  of  Congress  could 
be  deduced  from  the  war  or  treaty -making  power; 
for  that  would  not  account  for  congressional  con 
trol  over  territory  not  acquired  by  war  or  treaty, 
and  no  agreement  with  the  individual  States  could 
enlarge  the  competence  of  Congress  under  the 
Constitution.  The  right  to  admit  new  States  was 
equally  ineffectual;  the  reasoning  on  this  clause 
was  simply  analogical,  and  not  convincing ;  though 
the  Territories  might  be  likened  to  boys  in  pupil 
age,  the  analogy  was  not  perfect,  nor  could  such 
suppositions  bestow  authority  upon  a  body  pos 
sessed  of  enumerated  powers.  The  right  to  sell, 
the  right  of  ownership,  and  the  right  or  duty  of 


274  LEWIS  CASS 

settlement  were  equally  insufficient  privileges  from 
which  to  deduce  a  right  to  govern  persons;  for 
every  implied  power  ought  to  bear  a  fair  relation 
to  the  specific  one.  The  right  of  sovereignty,  the 
nature  of  government,  nationality,  and  the  princi 
ples  of  agency  and  trust  had  all  been  summoned 
to  do  battle  in  opposition  to  "  squatter  sovereignty;  " 
but  these  principles  overlooked  the  character  of 
the  Constitution  itself,  and  lost  sight  of  the  doc 
trines  of  that  "noble  state  paper,"  the  Virginia 
Kesolutions  of  1799. 

Other  more  technical  reasons  for  claiming  that 
this  power  was  inherent  in  Congress  he  brought 
up  and  combated.  The  right  of  self-government 
by  the  people  of  the  Territories  was  given  by  no 
earthly  potentate  or  people.  "They  got  it  from 
Almighty  God;  from  the  same  omnipotent  and 
beneficent  Being  who  gave  us  our  rights,  and  who 
gave  to  our  fathers  the  power  and  the  will  to 
assert  and  maintain  them."  He  ended  by  asking 
those  who  could  think  that  there  was  any  constitu 
tional  basis  for  the  Wilmot  proviso  to  consider 
the  circumstances  of  the  times  and  the  inexpe 
diency  of  the  measure.  His  closing  sentences 
were  as  follows :  "  I  will  endeavor  to  discharge  my 
duty,  as  an  American  senator,  to  the  country  and 
to  the  whole  country,  agreeably  to  the  convictions 
of  my  own  duty  and  of  the  obligations  of  the  Con 
stitution,  and  when  I  cannot  do  this  I  shall  cease 
to  have  any  duty  here  to  perform.  My  sentiments 
upon  the  Wilmot  proviso  are  now  before  the  Sen- 


SENATOR  — THE  COMPROMISE   OF   1850    275 

ate,  and  will  soon  be  before  my  constituents  and 
the  country.  I  am  precluded  from  voting  in  con 
formity  with  them.  I  have  been  instructed  by 
the  legislature  of  Michigan  to  vote  in  favor  of 
this  measure.  I  am  a  believer  in  the  right  of  in 
struction  when  fairly  exercised,  and  under  proper 
circumstances.  There  are  limitations  upon  this 
exercise;  but  I  need  not  seek  to  ascertain  their 
extent  or  application,  for  they  do  not  concern  my 
present  position.  I  acknowledge  the  obligation 
of  the  instructions  I  have  received,  and  cannot  act 
in  opposition  to  them.  Nor  can  I  act  in  opposi 
tion  to  my  own  convictions  of  the  true  meaning  of 
the  Constitution.  When  the  time  comes,  and  I 
am  required  to  vote  upon  this  measure  as  a  practi 
cal  one,  in  a  bill  providing  for  a  territorial  govern 
ment,  I  shall  know  how  to  reconcile  my  duty  to 
the  legislature  with  my  duty  to  myself,  by  surren 
dering  a  trust  I  can  no  longer  fulfill." l 

The  modern  student,  thinking  calmly  on  these 
great  questions,  soon  finds  common  sense  a  suffi 
cient  rebuttal  of  "squatter  sovereignty."  If  the 
Constitution  is  to  be  strictly  construed,  then  Con 
gress  has  no  power  to  acquire  territory.  But  if 
such  a  power  is  admitted,  government  is  essential 
to  complete  acquisition,  and  follows  as  a  natural 
consequent  upon  the  very  heels  of  possession,  if 
it  is  not  actually  a  part  of  it.  Such  authority  has 
been  exercised  by  the  national  government  from 
the  beginning  of  its  history.  It  throws  a  strong 

1  Appendix  to  the  Congressional  Globe,  vol.  xxii.  pt.  1,  p.  74. 


276  LEWIS  CASS 

light  on  the  confusion  of  the  times  that  such  self- 
evident  propositions  were  rejected  by  a  large  por 
tion  of  the  people,  and  that  "squatter  sovereignty  " 
was  accepted  as  logically  sound  and  conclusive; 
but  we  must  remember  that  the  Rebellion  has 
cleared  the  air  for  us,  and  we  now  see  plainly 
what  was  befogged  forty  years  ago. 

On  January  29  Clay  introduced  a  series  of  eight 
resolutions,  the  intent  of  which  was  to  compromise 
the  conflicting  claims  of  North  and  South.  The 
first  proposed  the  admission  of  California  without 
any  restriction  by  Congress;  the  second,  that,  in 
asmuch  as  slavery  was  not  likely  to  exist  in  any 
of  the  Territories  obtained  from  Mexico,  govern 
ments  ought  to  be  established  there  without  re 
striction  or  condition  on  the  subject  of  slavery; 
the  third,  that  the  boundary  between  Texas  and 
New  Mexico  should  be  agreed  upon;  the  fourth, 
that  Texas  be  paid  a  sum  of  money  in  considera 
tion  of  giving  up  in  large  part  her  claims  to  land 
in  New  Mexico;  the  fifth,  that  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  under  present 
circumstances  was  inexpedient;  the  sixth,  that  it 
was  expedient  to  prevent  the  slave  trade  in  the 
District  of  Columbia;  the  seventh,  that  a  more 
effectual  fugitive  slave  law  ought  to  be  passed; 
the  eighth,  that  Congress  had  no  power  to  prohibit 
the  slave  trade  between  slave  States.  Clay  begged 
the  senators  to  refrain  from  discussing  this  mea 
sure  until  they  had  taken  time  to  consider  it ;  but 
debate  immediately  ensued,  and  continued  for 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE   OF   1850    277 

months.  Cass  was  on  his  feet  often  during  these 
debates,  a  steady  and  consistent  advocate  for  put 
ting  an  end  to  an  unnecessary  agitation.  In  addi 
tion  to  his  arguments  on  unconstitutionality,  he 
insisted  that  the  law  of  nature  had  banished  slav 
ery  forever  from  California,  and  that  the  proviso 
discussion  was  one  of  selfish  sentiment. 

The  presentation  of  a  petition  by  Senator  Hale 
of  New  Hampshire  for  the  peaceable  dissolution 
of  the  Union  called  forth  (February  12)  an  elo 
quent  and  forcible  address  from  Cass.  "To  dis 
solve  this  Union  peaceably!  "  he  exclaimed.  "He 
who  believes  that  such  a  government  as  this,  with 
its  traditions,  its  institutions,  its  promises  of  the 
past,  its  performances  of  the  present,  and  its  hopes 
of  the  future,  living  in  the  heart's  core  of  almost 
every  American,  can  be  broken  up  without  blood 
shed,  has  read  human  nature  and  human  history 
to  little  purpose."  February  20  he  frankly  out 
lined  his  course  in  regard  to  the  proviso.  He 
confessed  his  inconsistency.  The  "retailing  of 
conversations  in  railroad  cars  "  was  not  needed  to 
prove  that  at  first  he  was  ready  to  vote  for  the 
measure.  A  calm  investigation  and  unimpassioned 
consideration  of  expediency  had  led  him  to  change 
his  mind.  With  unusual  vehemence  he  repelled 
the  insinuation  that  he  was  a  "doughface  "  because 
he  was  not  ready  to  "cover  the  country  with  blood 
and  conflagration  to  abolish  slavery."  On  the 
conclusion  of  his  speech  Clay  thanked  him,  and 
agreed  with  him  that  the  country  was  in  danger 


278  LEWIS  CASS 

because  of  "ultraism,"  which  made  calm  discus 
sion  an  impossibility.  No  one  can  read  these 
fervid  speeches  without  being  convinced  of  Cass's 
thorough  sincerity  and  intense  moral  earnestness. 
He  believed  slavery  was  a  misfortune  to  the  South ; 
yet  that  only  the  passing  ages  could  bring  about 
emancipation  without  the  destruction  of  both  races ; 
but  that  "God  in  his  providence"  might  bring 
it  about.  Only  one  who  is  intent  upon  finding 
chicanery  and  low  ambition  in  this  period  of  his 
life  will  fail  to  sympathize  with  his  intense,  how 
ever  mistaken,  eagerness  for  compromise. 

Webster's  famous  7th  of  March  speech,  in  which 
he  deplored  unnecessary  agitation,  advocated  com 
promise,  and  lamented  sentiment,  had  direct  effect 
at  the  North.  It  was  itself  the  expression  of  re 
action  and  conservatism.  It  aided  the  growing 
desire  to  settle  the  question  and  to  restore  har 
mony,  and  seems  to  have  influenced  the  legislature 
of  Michigan  to  reconsider  its  instructions  and  re 
quests  to  the  congressmen  of  the  State.1  April  11 
Cass  exultingly  read  to  the  Senate  resolutions 
freeing  him  from  any  obligation  to  vote  contrary 
to  his  judgment,  and  heartily  approving  the  pa 
triotic  stand  taken  by  those  who  had  "united  their 
efforts  to  preserve  the  Union  one  and  indivisible." 

This  was  a  session  of  great  speeches.  On  March 
4  Calhoun's  views  were  read  to  the  Senate  by  a 
fellow-senator.  He  himself  was  too  weak  to  speak. 

1  Private  correspondence  between  the  author  and  a  member  of 
the  legislature  at  that  time. 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE   OF  1850    279 

The  old  nullifier  was  dying.  But  his  last  energies 
were  devoted  to  the  South  and  to  slavery,  to  a 
cause  that  was  doomed  and  to  a  system  that  had 
cast  its  blight  on  the  State  which  he  had  loved  so 
well  and  served  so  faithfully.  His  argument  was 
simple  —  equilibrium  must  be  maintained ;  the  en 
croachments  of  the  North  must  be  prevented ;  only 
by  a  zealous  care  for  Southern  interests,  by  a  main 
tenance  of  political  equality,  could  harmony  be 
secured  and  the  Southern  States  remain  in  the 
Union  consistently  with  their  honor  and  safety. 
"The  cry  o'f  '  Union,  Union,  the  glorious  Union! ' 
can  no  more  prevent  disunion  than  the  cry  of 
'  Health,  health,  glorious  health ! '  on  the  part  of 
a  physician  can  save  a  patient  lying  dangerously 
ill."  The  South,  he  said,  must  be  protected  by 
some  constitutional  provision,  which  there  would 
be  no  difficulty  in  devising.  He  referred,  doubt 
less,  to  his  plan  of  electing  two  presidents,  one 
from  each  section,  who  should  protect  their  respec 
tive  interests,  a  plan  he  had  already  worked  out  in 
his  "Discourse  on  the  Constitution  and  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States." 

As  Webster's  7th  of  March  speech  expressed 
the  longing  for  peace  and  the  growing  weariness 
at  the  North  of  the  endless  discussion,  and  was  a 
manifestation  of  conservatism  and  reaction,  so  on 
the  other  hand  Seward's  and  Chase's  words  de 
clared  the  unwavering  zeal  of  the  earnest  and 
serious,  who  were  content  with  no  temporizing 
compromise,  and  demanded  principles  in  accord 


280  LEWIS  CASS 

with  the  "higher  law."  Seward's  speech  was  one 
of  the  greatest  in  the  annals  of  American  oratory; 
he  saw  so  clearly,  he  felt  so  keenly,  he  argued  so 
calmly  and  logically.  "I  feel  assured  that  slavery 
must  give  way,  and  will  give  way,  to  the  salutary 
instructions  of  economy,  and  to  the  ripening  in 
fluences  of  humanity ;  that  emancipation  is  inevi 
table,  and  is  near ;  that  it  may  be  hastened  or  hin 
dered;  and  that,  whether  it  be  peaceful  or  violent, 
depends  on  the  question  whether  it  be  hastened  or 
hindered;  .  .  .  that  all  measures  which  fortify 
slavery,  or  extend  it,  tend  to  the  consummation  of 
violence;  ...  all  that  check  its  extension  and 
abate  its  strength  tend  to  its  peaceful  extirpation." 
Webster  and  Clay  and  Cass  saw  through  the  glass 
of  past  prejudices  but  darkly.  Seward  and  Chase 
read  the  present  and  the  future  face  to  face.  Cass 
in  an  elaborate  address  on  March  13  and  14  sharply 
rebuked  Seward  for  accepting  office  under  a  Con 
stitution  which  recognized  the  necessity  of  an  "  im 
moral"  fugitive  slave  law,  and  criticised  the  "equi 
librium  "  propositions  of  Calhoun. 

There  was  great  disagreement  concerning  the 
various  proposals  of  Clay's  compromise  measure. 
One  objected  to  one  clause  and  another  to  another 
clause,  and  finally  the  whole  subject  was  on  April 
13  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  thirteen,  of 
which  Clay  was  chairman,  and  Cass  was  a  mem 
ber.  On  May  8  this  committee  reported,  and 
recommended  three  bills.  The  first  provided  for 
three  distinct  objects:  the  immediate  admittance 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE   OF  1850    281 

of  California,  the  establishment  of  territorial  gov 
ernments  for  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  with  the  stip 
ulation  that  the  territorial  legislature  should  pass 
no  law  with  reference  to  slavery,  the  settlement  of 
the  boundary  of  Texas,  and  the  payment  to  that 
State  of  a  sum  of  money,  as  a  recompense  for  her 
giving  up  her  claim  to  part  of  New  Mexico.  The 
second  bill  provided  for  the  return  of  fugitive 
slaves;  the  third  for  the  discontinuance  of  the 
slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  This  re 
port  had  been  agreed  upon  by  the  committee  after 
long  discussions  and  debates.  Its  reception  by 
the  Senate  was  not  flattering.  Some  of  the  radi 
cal  Southern  members  demanded  that  California 
should  not  be  admitted.  Others  from  the  North, 
on  the  other  hand,  asserted  that  the  admission  of 
California  should  not  be  made  conditional  upon 
the  formation  of  territorial  governments,  and  de 
sired  that  the  principle  of  the  Wilmot  proviso 
should  be  applied  to  the  Territories.  It  seemed 
absolutely  impossible  to  harmonize  differences. 
The  debate  went  on  day  after  day  with  mechanical 
regularity,  but  with  unfailing  vehemence  and  bit 
terness.  Cass  was  continually  on  his  feet,  the 
able  and  persistent  ally  of  Clay  and  a  champion 
of  the  compromise. 

President  Taylor  had  been  drawn  into  obstinate 
opposition  to  the  committee's  plans,  partly  because 
his  loyal  heart  was  stirred  to  resentment  by  the 
treasonable  threats  of  the  South,  and  partly  be 
cause  he  had  from  the  first  been  in  favor  of  admit- 


282  LEWIS  CASS 

ting  California  with  her  constitution  as  adopted. 
On  July  9  he  died.  Presidential  duties  had  wor 
ried  and  annoyed  him,  and  had  told  severely  upon 
him.  His  last  words  tell  the  tale  of  an  unpreten 
tious  life,  whose  late  ambition  had  not  brought 
peace  or  happiness :  "  I  have  always  done  my  duty ; 
I  am  ready  to  die ;  my  only  regret  is  for  the  friends 
I  leave  behind  me."  Fillmore  became  president, 
and  the  weight  of  executive  influence  was  thrown 
in  favor  of  the  compromise  measure. 

On  June  11  and  August  12  the  doctrine  of  non 
interference,  of  the  absolute  and  divine  right  of 
the  people  of  the  Territories  to  govern  themselves, 
was  ably  discussed  and  defended  by  Cass.  He 
fondly  believed  that  the  compromise  would  still 
the  raging  tempest.  "There  can  be  no  Wilmot 
proviso,  and  no  one  proposes  to  interfere  with  the 
claims  of  Texas.  Then  why  not  terminate  this 
whole  controversy,  and  thus  banish  its  remem 
brances  from  our  councils  and  country.  .  .  .  That 
done,  we  should  enter  again  upon  a  glorious  career, 
with  none  to  trouble  us  or  to  make  us  afraid. 
God  grant  that  the  denunciation  contained  in  the 
command  to  the  prophet  may  not  already  have 
gone  out  against  us.  Say  ye  not  a  confederacy, 
to  all  them  to  whom  this  people  shall  say  a  confed 
eracy;  neither  fear  ye  their  fear,  nor  be  afraid'." 

He  was  winning  his  State  to  a  temporary  faith 
in  his  beliefs.  A  Democratic  convention  of  Michi 
gan  in  June  passed  resolutions  in  favor  of  the 
compromise,  and  eulogized  the  "patriotic  efforts" 


SENATOR  — THE  COMPROMISE   OF   1850    28b 

of  General  Cass.  "Placing  himself  in  the  breach, 
and  stemming  a  current  of  popular  prejudice  and 
fanaticism  as  relentless  and  proscriptive  in  its 
character  as  it  is  sectional  and  destructive  in  its 
objects,  he  has  achieved  a  moral  triumph  no  less 
creditable  to  himself  than  it  is  salutary  in  its  re 
sults  upon  the  permanency  of  our  republican  form 
of  government."  The  convention  also  advocated 
congressional  non-intervention  as  the  only  sound 
basis  for  the  Democratic  party. 

The  different  provisions  of  the  compromise  bill 
were  finally  passed  piecemeal.  Territorial  gov 
ernments  were  given  to  Utah  and  to  New  Mex 
ico.  California  was  admitted.  Texas  was  given 
810,000,000  in  lieu  of  all  title  to  land  organized 
as  part  of  New  Mexico.  The  slave  trade  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  was  abolished.  An  infamous 
fugitive  slave  law  was  passed,  providing  for  sum 
mary  proceedings  and  a  shameful  disregard  for 
the  rights  of  free  blacks.  Undoubtedly  the  coun 
try  breathed  more  easily  when  the  compromise 
was  adopted,  and  many  deceived  themselves  into 
believing  that  strife  was  forever  stifled.  But  the 
act  contained  the  seeds  of  its  own  destruction. 
Slave-hunting  in  the  North  began  at  once,  and  in 
earnest.  Greeley 1  estimated  that  within  the  first 
year  of  the  existence  of  these  new  regulations  more 
persons  were  seized  as  fugitive  slaves  than  during 
the  preceding  sixty  years.  Cass  had  been  in  favor 
of  making  the  original  slave  law  of  1793  more 
1  The  American  Conflict,  p.  216. 


284  LEWIS   CASS 

effective  by  adequate  amendments.  He  was  will 
ing  to  do  "justice"  to  the  South.  But  the  South 
on  its  part  did  not,  and  could  not,  appreciate 
Northern  hatred  of  slave -hunt  ing ;  and  the  conse 
quent  result  of  this  strict  law  was  to  bring  the 
evils  of  slavery,  in  its  most  revolting  and  inhuman 
aspects,  home  to  the  consciences  of  a  people  whose 
moral  sense  was  not  blunted.  The  compromise 
of  1850,  which  was  hailed  as  the  final  settlement 
of  sectional  differences,  in  fact  precipitated  the 
Rebellion,  and  hastened  the  destruction  of  the 
"institution"  of  the  South.  Strange  does  it  seem 
now  that  a  representative  of  the  free  Northwest 
could  not  see  more  clearly,  could  have  thus  lost 
moral  insight  into  the  first  principles  of  respect 
able  republican  liberty.  He  desired,  it  is  true,  that 
provision  should  be  made  for  a  jury  trial  in  the 
State  to  which  the  alleged  runaway  might  be  trans 
ported,  but  he  voted  against  allowing  such  a  safe 
guard  of  liberty  in  the  North,  because  that  would 
be  doing  "injustice"  to  the  South.  He  refused 
to  favor  an  amendment  to  this  infamous  law, 
which  would  have  permitted  the  issue  of  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  A  dark  complexion  was  a  crime 
which  freed  the  nation  from  all  consideration. 

Those  who  had  worked  so  strongly  through  the 
long  oppressive  weeks  of  summer  for  a  compromise 
which  would  save  the  Union  were  terribly  disap 
pointed  and  goaded  to  a  pitch  of  anger  because 
there  was  still  agitation  and  opposition.  The 
strong  and  uncompromising  adherents  of  free  soil 


SENATOR  — THE   COMPROMISE  OF   1850    285 

were  thought  to  be  nursing  "in  their  bosoms  the 
feelings  of  disappointment  and  hate," —  and  to  have 
shut  their  eyes  to  the  fruits  of  a  happy  Union 
"which  compromise  ushered  into  existence." l  Yet 
unquestionably  there  was  on  the  whole  a  feeling 
of  rest  and  relief  because  the  crisis  had  passed 
without  destruction.  A  great  reaction  toward  con 
servatism  had  made  itself  felt  among  the  mercan 
tile  classes  of  the  North,  who  began  to  realize  how 
much  the  industries  of  the  country  would  be  dis 
turbed  by  disunion.  Trade  is  always  timid.  The 
steady  compromisers  were  therefore  honored  at 
the  marts  of  trade  and  commerce.  A  number  of 
citizens  of  New  York  gave  Cass  a  public  reception 
November  28,  1850,  just  before  the  opening  of 
Congress.  His  "eloquent  address  "  was  received 
with  "vehement  applause."2  It  was  an  earnest 
appeal  for  contentment,  and  for  a  recognition  of 
the  finality  of  the  compromise.  A  member  of  the 
Congress  which  had  just  passed  one  of  the  most 
shameful  acts  that  ever  sullied  a  statute  book, 
depriving  a  man  with  a  black  skin  of  all  security 
in  liberty  or  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  talked 
about  the  "precious  heritage  of  liberty.  .  .  .  And 
where  in  the  long  annals  of  mankind  do  we  find 
a  people  so  highly  favored  as  we  are  at  this  mo 
ment,  when  we  seem  to  be  struck  with  judicial 
blindness  —  almost  ready,  I  may  say,  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Scripture,  to  rush  upon  the  thick  bosses 

1  Smith,  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass,  p.  710. 

2  Newspaper  article. 


286  LEWIS  CASS 

of  Jehovah's  buckler?  The  sun  never  shone  upon 
a  country  as  free  and  prosperous  as  this,  where 
human  freedom  finds  less  oppression,  the  human 
intellect  less  restraint,  or  human  industry  less  op 
position." 

There  was  a  vigorous  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
people  to  reason  themselves  to  sleep,  and  to  make 
use  of  all  sorts  of  devices  to  rid  themselves  of  this 
horrid  insomnia;  but  it  was  a  hard  task,  although 
there  was  an  evident  backsliding  after  the  high 
excitement  of  1850.  Cass  was  elected  senator  in 
February,  1851,  by  a  handsome  majority.  This 
is  a  clear  indication  of  the  acquiescence  in  the 
"finality"  of  the  compromise.  Many  people  of 
the  North  were  prepared  to  assert  that  they  would 
take  no  thought  for  the  morrow.  The  appalling 
cases  of  cruelty  were  too  frequent,  however;  and 
action  was  bound  sooner  or  later  to  follow  reac 
tion.  Orators  might  depict  the  beauties  of  patri 
archal  slavery,  but  the  despair  of  the  captured 
fugitives,  their  readiness  to  die  rather  than  to  be 
taken  back  to  the  South,  belied  all  efforts  of  that 
kind.  The  contradictions  of  pamphleteers  and 
deluded  conservatives  were  daily  made  more  glar 
ing;  the  sentimentalists  of  the  North  were  up 
braided  because  they  discountenanced  the  capture 
of  slaves  and  their  return  to  the  blessed  and  happy 
bondage,  from  which  ecstatic  state  they  were  es 
caping  in  hundreds  to  the  ruin  of  their  kind, 
gentle,  and  Christian  masters. 

Other  orators  and  statesmen  used  words  similar 


SENATOR— THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850   287 

to  those  of  Cass.  But  all  Union -saving  speeches 
and  prayers  were  ineffectual.  When  Congress 
met,  in  December,  it  was  apparent  that,  although 
there  was  a  calm  after  the  storm,  some  would  in 
sist  on  being  shocked  and  horrified  at  the  fugitive 
slave  act.  President  Fillmore's  message  indorsed 
the  finality  of  the  compromise.  But  the  indorse 
ment  itself  called  forth  a  bitter  debate.  "The 
farmer  of  Ohio,"  said  Giddings,  "will  never  turn 
out  to  chase  the  panting  fugitive."  Petitions 
against  the  act  came  in  scores.  Cass  lamented 
that  sentiment  and  ultraism  had  bewitched  the 
people.  In  a  speech  in  the  Senate  (February, 
1851)  he  deplored  the  statement  that  the  law  was 
contrary  to  public  sentiment,  and  could  not  be 
enforced.  He  read  a  ringing  resolution  adopted 
by  a  meeting  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  which 
hailed  the  escape  of  a  hunted  slave,  and  avowed 
the  hope  that,  "law  or  no  law,  constitution  or  no 
constitution,  Union  or  no  Union,  the  hospitality 
of  Massachusetts  will  never  be  violated  by  the  de 
liverance  of  any  fugitive  from  oppression  to  his 
tyrant  again."  Such  "unpatriotic  "  resolutions 
he  attributed  to  the  teachings  of  English  emissa 
ries,  who  were  journeying  over  our  land,  preaching 
abolition  and  the  sinfulness  of  the  Constitution. 

As  the  campaign  of  1852  approached,  it  became 
evident  that  the  Democrats  had  the  advantage  of 
harmony  and  discipline.  Not  all  Democrats  were 
in  favor  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  but  there  was 
no  such  division  in  their  ranks  as  in  those  of  the 


288  LEWIS  CASS 

Whigs,  where  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  would 
not  down.  The  conservative  reaction  was  still 
vigorous  during  the  summer  of  this  year.  Those 
who  were  crying  "Peace,  peace,"  would  evidently 
still  cling  to  the  old  parties,  and  many  would  turn 
to  the  one  whose  history  promised  no  attack  upon 
the  "peculiar  institution"  of  the  Southern  States. 
The  horrors  of  the  slave  chase  were  not  yet  com 
pletely  brought  home  to  the  Northern  conscience 
and  sympathy.  The  National  Democratic  Con 
vention  met  in  Baltimore  on  June  1.  On  the  first 
ballot  Cass  was  the  favorite.  He  received  116 
votes;  Buchanan  received  93;  Marcy,  27;  and 
there  were  27  scattering.  The  contest  was  long 
and  exciting.  Cass  was  still  recognized  as  the 
leader  of  his  party;  but  the  practical  politician  is 
loath  to  place  in  nomination  a  man  once  defeated, 
whose  weak  points  have  been  brought  into  view, 
and  who  no  longer  can  awaken  enthusiasm  from 
novelty.  The  balloting  continued;  Cass's  vote  at 
one  time  dropped  to  25.  Douglas,  on  the  thirti 
eth  ballot,  had  as  many  as  92.  On  the  thirty -fifth 
Cass's  vote  reached  131.  Then  the  name  of  Frank 
lin  Pierce  was  introduced.  Marcy  was  still  for 
midable,  receiving  97  on  the  forty-fifth  ballot; 
but  on  the  forty -ninth  the  New  Hampshire  man 
was  chosen.  The  second  place  on  the  ticket  was 
given  to  William  R.  King  of  Alabama. 

The  candidates  were  suited  to  the  task  assigned 
them.  Pierce  is  not  one  of  the  great  men  of  our 
political  history,  but  belongs  in  the  column  of 


SENATOR  — THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850    289 

presidential  accidents.  He  had  served  in  Congress 
for  some  ten  years,  and  had  been  a  brigadier- 
general  in  the  Mexican  war.  He  had  in  no  way 
shown  any  preeminent  ability.  What  was  wanted 
was  precisely  such  a  colorless  candidate  to  carry 
the  standard  of  the  party  announcing  the  "finality  " 
of  the  compromise  of  1850.  Resolutions  were 
adopted  declaring  that  Congress  had  no  power  to 
interfere  with  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  sev 
eral  States,  and  that  all  the  efforts  of  the  aboli 
tionists  to  induce  Congress  to  take  such  steps  were 
calculated  to  lead  to  the  most  alarming  conse 
quences.  The  party  was  pledged  to  resist  all  at 
tempts  at  "renewing"  the  agitation  of  the  slavery 
question  in  Congress  or  out  of  it.  Pierce  accepted 
the  nomination,  and  approved  heartily  of  the  plat 
form. 

The  Whig  convention,  which  met  soon  after 
ward,  seemed  to  have  as  great  travail  as  its  rival 
had  suffered  in  bringing  forth  a  candidate.  Its 
Southern  members  had  already  indicated  the  neces 
sity  of  agreeing  to  the  compromise,  while  at  the 
North  there  was  a  strong  element  of  the  party 
which  was  no  longer  bound  to  it  by  principles, 
but  simply  by  past  associations.  Scott,  Fillmore, 
and  Webster  were  the  candidates.  The  first  was 
nominated  on  the  fifty-third  ballot.  Had  Webster 
been  nominated  the  campaign  might  have  taken 
a  different  line,  for  his  readiness  to  accept  radical 
conservatism  on  the  slavery  question  had  already 
been  demonstrated;  but  he  did  not  receive  a  single 


290  LEWIS  CASS 

Southern  vote  in  the  convention.  The  platform, 
supposed  to  have  been  the  work  of  Webster,  adopted 
adjustment  and  finality,  and  acquiesced  in  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  The  party  had  passed  its  last 
resolution.  There  was  truth  in  the  epitaph  which 
the  public  wrote  upon  its  tomb :  "  Died  of  an  at 
tempt  to  swallow  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law." 

A  Free-Soil  National  Convention  in  August 
nominated  John  P.  Hale  for  president  and  George 
W.  Julian  for  vice-president.  Both  the  great 
parties  were  pronounced  hopelessly  corrupt  and 
unworthy  of  confidence;  and  were  wittily  charac 
terized  as  the  "  Whig  and  Democratic  wings  of  the 
great  Compromise  party  of  the  Nation."  This 
campaign  was  conducted  with  great  enthusiasm 
and  with  the  courage  of  moral  earnestness;  but 
the  result  seemed  to  furnish  even  less  encourage 
ment  than  had  been  offered  four  years  before. 
The  vote  had  actually  fallen  off.  It  represented, 
however,  the  actual  strength  of  the  anti-slavery 
men  in  politics  unaided  by  any  side  issue.  There 
was  great  zeal  in  the  North  to  lie  prostrate  in 
worship  before  the  Constitution,  compromise,  and 
conciliation.  In  New  York,  where  Van  Buren 
had  received  such  a  great  vote  in  1848,  the  Free- 
Soilers  did  not  hold  even  the  balance  of  power. 
In  Michigan  there  were  3000  less  votes  cast  for 
Hale  than  had  been  cast  for  Van  Buren.  The 
same  proportionate  falling  off  appears  in  the  other 
Northwestern  States,  including  Ohio,  and  yet  this 
portion  of  the  Union  was  especially  true  to  the 


SENATOR  — THE  COMPROMISE   OF  1850   291 

faith.  Most  of  the  old  Barnburners  of  New  York 
forgot  their  Free-Soil  aberration,  and  voted  and 
worked  for  Pierce.  Many  of  the  Northern  Whigs 
found  it  hard  to  be  reconciled;  they  were  said, 
in  the  slang  of  the  day,  "to  swallow  the  candidates 
and  to  spit  upon  the  platform." 

The  Democrats  had  felt  great  confidence  in  their 
success,  but  no  one  had  anticipated  such  a  victory 
as  they  won.  Scott  received  only  42  electoral 
votes,  carrying  in  the  North  Massachusetts  and 
Vermont,  in  the  South  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 
Not  a  single  State  especially  interested  in  slavery 
deigned  to  reward  the  party  which  had  been  for 
years  stifling  all  its  better  feelings  and  hopes  out 
of  tender  consideration  for  the  "rights"  of  the 
South.  The  popular  plurality  was  not  so  crush 
ing,  only  202,008;  but  Taylor  had  beaten  Cass 
by  a  plurality  of  138,447.  There  was  no  excuse 
for  the  Whigs  longer  to  pretend  to  exist  as  a 
party.  They  had  been  kept  together  since  1848 
by  spoils  and  the  memory  of  past  glory.  In  the 
light  of  this  defeat  even  memory  lost  its  sweetness. 
Though  some  were  still  obstinate  and  used  the 
old  name,  the  party  was  gone.  Some  rude  shock 
was  necessary  to  shake  into  crystals  the  different 
elements  held  in  the  solution  of  uncertainty  and 
doubt.  Such  a  shock  soon  came,  and  the  study 
of  the  next  eight  years  of  this  sixth  decade  of  our 
history  may  be  devoted  to  watching  the  effect  upon 
the  North  of  blow  after  blow  from  the  arrogant 
South.  The  Democracy,  now  given  up  to  South- 


292  LEWIS  CASS 

ern  policy  and  flushed  with  victory,  scarcely  real 
ized  the  danger  of  presumption  until  the  free 
Northwest  had  brought  into  being  a  gigantic  young 
party  filled  with  the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  princi 
ple,  and  patriotism.  Not  till  the  Whigs  were 
disorganized  and  thrown  into  confusion  by  over 
whelming  defeat,  was  there  an  opportunity  for  a 
recombination  in  opposition  to  slavery.  The  tri 
umph  of  the  compromise  was  all  that  was  needed 
to  destroy  it. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE    REPEAL    OF    THE    MISSOUEI    COMPROMISE.  — 
THE   NORTHWEST   FORMS   A   NEW   PARTY 

A  STUDY  of  the  popular  vote  of  1852  might 
have  made  the  Democratic  party  somewhat  cau 
tious  ;  for  its  actual  majority  was  very  small.  But 
compromise  and  finality,  as  represented  by  Pierce, 
seemed  to  be  triumphant,  and  the  new  president 
was  eager  for  adjustment  and  for  the  enforcement 
of  the  law.  His  message,  December,  1853,  once 
more  proclaimed  that  the  slavery  contest  should 
be  considered  settled.  From  its  uneasy  slumbers 
the  country  was  suddenly  awakened  on  January 
16,  1854,  by  Senator  Dixon  of  Kentucky.  The 
successor  of  Henry  Clay  gave  notice  that  when  a 
bill  to  establish  a  territorial  government  in  Ne 
braska  should  come  up  for  consideration,  he  should 
offer  a  resolution  repealing  the  Missouri  compro 
mise  and  permitting  the  citizens  of  the  several 
States  and  Territories  to  take  and  hold  their  slaves 
within  any  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States. 
January  23,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  reported  from 
the  Committee  on  Territories  a  bill  for  the  forma 
tion  of  two  Territories,  —  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
—  which  provided  that  all  cases  involving  the  title 


294  LEWIS  CASS 

t 

to  slaves  and  questions  of  personal  freedom  should 
be  referred  to  the  local  tribunals  with  right  of 
appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
This,  of  course,  meant  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
compromise.  It  was  declared  to  be  the  intent  of 
the  act  to  carry  into  practical  operation  the  princi 
ples  established  by  the  compromise  measure  of 
1850.  Non-intervention  was  now  made  applica 
ble,  not  alone  to  the  "broken  crests  and  deep 
valleys,"  nor  to  the  mountain  tops  "capped  by 
perennial  snow,"  nor  to  the  barren  mountain  sides 
of  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  but  to  the  broad  rolling 
prairies  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  section  of 
the  Missouri  compromise,  excluding  slavery  north 
of  36°  30',  was  declared  inoperative  and  void,  as 
being  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  non-inter 
vention  recognized  by  the  legislation  of  1850. 
There  is  ostensible  but  not  real  truth,  therefore, 
in  the  statement  of  Jefferson  Davis  that  the  Mis 
souri  line  was  erased,  not  in  1854,  but  by  Clay's 
last  effort  at  mediation. 

The  act  as  adopted  contained  the  following  state 
ment,  afterwards  a  subject  of  some  discussion:  "It 
being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  act  not 
to  legislate  slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State, 
nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people 
thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject 
only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
Jefferson  Davis,  in  his  work  on  the  "Rise  and 
Fall  of  the  Confederate  Government."  maintains 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE    295 

that  the  claim  afterwards  advanced  by  Douglas 
and  others,  that  this  declaration  was  intended  to 
assert  the  right  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  Territory 
to  determine  the  character  of  its  institutions,  led 
to  the  dissensions  which  resulted  in  a  rupture  of 
the  Democratic  party.  He  insists  that  this  right 
to  "regulate  their  domestic  institutions"  belonged 
to  the  people  of  a  Territory  only  at  the  moment 
of  forming  a  constitution  for  admittance  into  the 
Union.  The  same  statements  have  been  made  by 
other  writers  in  behalf  of  the  "Lost  Cause."  The 
"Little  Giant,"  who  declaimed  in  his  frenzied 
fashion  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  the  slaveholder, 
until  he  was  abused  and  execrated  by  the  more 
advanced  people  of  the  North,  is  now  slandered 
and  maligned  by  the  advocates  of  the  South.  He 
is  described  as  an  "able  and  eloquent  demagogue," 
whose  popular  sovereignty  was  merely  "a  short 
cut  to  all  the  ends  of  Black  Republicanism."  The 
truth  is,  however,  that  the  South,  finding  itself 
beaten  at  its  own  game,  thereupon  followed  the 
advice  of  the  old  lawyer  to  a  member  newly  ad 
mitted  to  the  profession :  having  neither  law  nor 
facts  in  its  favor,  it  abused  the  other  side.  An 
unprejudiced  reading  of  the  speeches  of  Cass  and 
Douglas  on  the  act  of  1854  will  show  that  popular 
or  "squatter  sovereignty"  meant  control  over  leg 
islation  by  the  people  of  a  Territory.  Cass  made 
two  eloquent  and  skillful  speeches  on  the  subject, 
clear  as  the  sun  at  noonday.1  The  fact  is  that  the 

1  As  late  as  1855  Cass  repeated  the  argument  for  popular  sov- 


296  LEWIS  CASS 

remarkable  infatuation  of  the  South  allowed  it, 
even  as  late  as  1854,  to  believe  that  it  could  com 
pete  for  the  Western  prairie  with  the  free  North, 
whose  population  was  far  greater,  and  which  was 
constantly  receiving  such  additions  from  the  old 
world  that  it  could  pour  a  steady  stream  of  immi 
grants  into  the  new  Territories.  Not  until  the 
painful  truth  came  home,  that  competition  with 
the  free  North  in  expansion,  in  power,  in  vigor, 
was  a  hopeless  task,  did  the  ordinary  slave-owner 
abuse  popular  sovereignty  and  demand  the  affirm 
ative  protection  by  Congress  of  all  his  rights  to 
property  in  persons.  We  shall  see  that  in  this 
hopeless  contest  he  at  last  turned  even  to  the  ne 
farious  slave  trade,  which  had  been  piracy  for 
forty  years  and  illegal  for  fifty,  hoping  in  spite  of 
defeat  that  the  forests  of  Africa  would  give  the 
means  to  counteract  the  emigration  from  the  crowded 
fields  and  cities  of  Europe. 

Cass,  as  the  inventor  of  popular  sovereignty, 
has  been  burdened  with  abusive  epithets,  and  ac 
cused  of  pernicious  intents ;  but,  after  all,  popular 
sovereignty,  though  artificial,  and  an  absurd  de 
duction  from  general  principles,  if  honestly  carried 
out  would  have  chained  slavery  within  its  early 
limits,  wherein  it  was  doomed  to  destruction  by 

ereignty  in  the  early  sense  of  that  word:  "  The  negation  of  all 
power  of  interference  by  Congress  in  the  internal  government  of 
the  Territories  is  the  true  constitutional  doctrine."  From  a  letter 
to  the  Detroit  Free  Press,  August,  1855,  quoted  in  Smith's  Cass, 
p.  771. 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE    297 

the  silent  operation  of  economic  and  industrial 
laws.  But  the  South  would  not  live  up  to  the 
doctrine  when  the  struggle  went  against  it.  Cali 
fornia  was  lost;  the  mountain-passes  of  New  Mex 
ico  were  forbidding;  and  the  plains  beyond  the 
mountains  had  not  yet  suggested  their  beautiful 
transformation  at  the  touch  of  irrigation  and  mod 
ern  mechanical  skill.  The  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
country,  stretching  away  to  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  north  to  the  British  provinces,  the  remaining 
portions  of  the  Louisiana  purchase,  must  be  won 
for  slavery,  or  the  slave  baron  could  no  longer 
crack  his  whip  in  the  halls  of  the  Capitol  in  defi 
ance  of  Northern  sentiment  and  "sentimentality." 
Cass  lamented  the  reopening  of  the  slavery  con 
test  by  this  bill.  He  regretted  that  it  should  be 
necessary  to  reconsider  a  compromise  of  over  thirty 
years'  standing;  but  he  admitted  that  the  line  of 
demarcation  was  inconsistent  with  the  theory  of 
non-intervention,  and  he  believed  that  the  com 
plete  recognition  of  that  theory  was  the  only  means 
of  obtaining  peace.  He  therefore  announced  his 
adherence  to  the  bill.  He  did  not  believe  that 
the  South  would  gain  anything  by  the  equality 
she  demanded,  for  he  trusted  that  the  region  in 
dispute  was  so  ill  adapted  to  slave  labor  that  no 
human  power  could  ever  establish  it  there.  Bor 
rowing  the  famous  words  of  Webster,  he  exclaimed, 
"It  is  excluded  by  law,  superior  to  that  which 
admits  it  elsewhere,  — the  law  of  nature,  of  physi 
cal  geography,  the  law  of  the  formation  of  the 


298  LEWIS   CASS 

earth.  That  law  settles  forever,  with  a  strength 
beyond  all  terms  of  human  enactment,  that  slavery 
cannot  exist  there."  Curiously  enough,  the  elo 
quent  historian  of  our  civil  war,  Dr.  Draper,  pro 
pounded  the  same  opinion  as  late  as  1867  ;x  but 
the  learned  advocate  of  the  control  of  nature  over 
man  hit  upon  an  unfortunate  example.  The  Great 
American  Desert  has  bloomed  as  if  touched  with 
the  wand  of  Ceres  herself,  and  the  skill  of  man, 
by  upturning  the  soil,  has  brought  rain  from  the 
clouds;  the  dry  plains  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
are  dry  no  longer,  and  the  rough  buffalo  grass 
and  cactus  have  given  place  to  more  useful  and 
luxuriant  crops.  It  is  fortunate  that  the  Ameri 
can  people  were  not  willing  to  trust  to  the  appar 
ent  infertility  of  their  wild  lands,  but  aroused 
themselves  to  active  opposition.  For  the  South 
was  determined  that  at  least  one  more  slave  State 
should  be  added  to  the  list.  The  passage  of  the 
Kansas -Nebraska  bill  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end.  The  advice  of  Seward  had  been  neglected. 
The  slave  States,  ignorant  of  their  own  inherent 
weakness,  madly  began  a  struggle  for  equality, 
demanding  an  opportunity  for  the  contest. 

President  Pierce  signed  the  measure  May  30, 
1854.  The  day  of  compromise  was  past.  They 
who  had  boasted  of  final  adjustment  by  the  com 
promise  of  1850  now  disregarded  one  which  had 
been  considered  inviolable.  The  basis  was  non 
interference.  Freedom  must  be  attained,  not  by 

1  History  of  American  Civil  War,  vol.  i.  p.  411. 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE    299 

"bargains  of  equivocal  prudence,"  but  by  fair 
legislation,  by  the  vigor  of  free  labor  and  free 
thought,  now  by  Southern  folly  given  fair  play 
without  let  or  hindrance.  The  shifting  sands  of 
compromise  were  gone.  "This  seems  to  me,"  ex 
claimed  Seward,  "auspicious  of  better  days  and 
better  and  wiser  legislation.  Through  all  the 
darkness  and  gloom  of  the  present  hour  bright 
stars  are  breaking,  that  inspire  me  with  hope  and 
excite  me  to  perseverance."  Cass  did  not  see  so 
clearly  nor  feel  so  deeply  as  the  men  of  the  new 
generation.  His  companions  in  thought  had  gone, 
and  he  lingered  still,  one  of  the  old  school  who 
had  loved  the  Union  with  a  tenderness  and  loyalty 
which  could  be  known  only  by  those  who  had  seen 
it  rise  and  prosper,  and  who  had  helped  make  it 
what  it  was.  He  hoped  and  believed  that  his 
doctrine  of  non-intervention  would  preserve  the 
Territories  for  freedom.  The  violence,  the  greed, 
the  stern  resolve  of  the  leaders  of  the  new  South 
appeared  as  dire  portents  to  Seward,  to  Chase,  to 
Sumner;  but  they  were  hidden  from  the  patriarch 
of  a  generation  whose  memories  recalled  Southern 
hospitality  and  true  chivalry,  when  as  yet  embit 
tering  topics  had  not  arisen. 

His  opinions  are  well  expressed  in  a  letter  writ 
ten  to  a  friend  in  Detroit,  June  4:  "As  you  are 
aware  we  have  passed  the  Nebraska  bill.  I  be 
lieve  it  was  a  wise  measure,  and  that  it  will  have 
the  effect  of  forever  withdrawing  the  slavery  con 
test  from  Congress.  And  it  is  founded  on  the 


300  LEWIS  CASS 

true  American  principle  of  allowing  every  political 
community  to  regulate  its  own  domestic  concerns 
for  itself.  I  am  aware  that  the  measure  has  ex 
cited  a  good  deal  of  opposition  in  our  State,  but 
I  believe  that  the  more  it  is  examined  and  becomes 
known,  the  more  favor  it  will  meet  from  reason 
able  men  of  both  parties." : 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  came 
like  a  whirlwind  upon  the  people  of  the  North. 
At  a  time  when  the  Federal  Government  was 
giving  itself  up  to  the  demands  of  slavery,  the 
sentiment  of  liberty  was  growing.  The  Demo 
cratic  party  had  surrendered  to  the  South,  but  it 
was  called  to  reckon  with  true  democracy  at  the 
North.  Many  who  had  not  been  aroused  hitherto 
now  shouted  for  the  sacredness  of  the  bargain  of 
1820.  The  awaited  shock  had  come.  Indignant 
Democrats  who  had  voted  for  Pierce  in  1852, 
thinking  that  the  last  word  had  been  said  for 
slavery,  joined  with  Whigs  who  were  half  gleeful 
that  their  boastful  old-time  enemies  had  not  found 
such  easy  sailing,  and  half  angry  that  the  compro 
mise  of  their  own  chieftain  had  been  abandoned. 
Crystallization  into  a  new  party  came  at  once. 
Emigrant  aid  societies  and  private  benevolence 
armed  the  sturdy  New  Englander  and  hurried  him 
off  to  the  new  Territory  to  hold  the  doubtful  ground 
for  liberty  with  the  rifle.  Earnest  men  in  all  the 
North,  startled  by  seeing  the  last  barrier  broken, 
demanded  an  end  of  irresolution  and  trifling. 

1  Letter  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Cleveland,  Detroit. 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE    301 

The  Whigs  and  the  Democrats  who  were  provoked 
to  opposition  wasted  too  much  time  and  thought 
on  "breach  of  faith,"  and  lamented  with  over 
much  sorrow  the  destruction  of  a  geographical 
line,  which  had  been  for  many  years  the  bane  of 
our  politics.  Such  persons,  however,  were  soon 
found  hand  in  glove  with  the  Free-Soilers,  who 
saw  in  the  obnoxious  measure  only  an  instance 
of  the  perfidy  of  slavery  and  the  folly  of  compro 
mises  and  bargains  with  sin. 

The  Republican  party  was  born  in  the  North 
west.  It  breathed  its  early  life  in  that  virile  re 
gion  which  had  never  felt  the  enervating  influence 
of  colonialism,  in  a  section  which  was  now  filled 
with  the  power  of  a  highly  developed  and  organ 
ized  society,  and  yet  had  not  lost  the  zeal,  vital 
ity,  and  energy  of  a  primitive  and  newly  settled 
country.  Men  of  the  young  West  easily  free 
themselves  from  associations  of  party  and  leave 
the  shallow  ruts  of  custom.  They  do  not  know  the 
burdening  weight  of  tradition  and  inheritance,  and 
they  readily  think  for  themselves  and  act  as  they 
think.  The  pioneer  who  has  wrought  his  own 
work  and  fought  his  own  fight  has  no  respect  for 
prescription,  and  bases  superiority  on  skill  and 
endurance.  Yet  side  by  side  with  this  marked 
individualism  and  independence,  there  is  a  gener 
ous  altruism  and  a  comprehension  of  society. 
Lessons  are  learned  from  nature.  Her  breadth 
and  liberality  do  not  teach  the  settler  selfishness. 
He  may  lose  opportunities  for  refinement  and 


302  LEWIS  CASS 

culture,  but  his  views  are  not  limited  to  a  narrow 
horizon.  These  characteristics  display  themselves 
variously;  there  is  a  deep,  broad,  and  fervent 
love  of  country,  an  admiration  of  her  greatness 
and  an  appreciation  of  her  manifest  destiny.  Ge 
ography  teaches  patriotism.  "Vast  prairies  cov 
ered  by  the  unbroken  dome  of  the  sky,  and  navi 
gable  rivers  all  converging  to  a  common  trunk, 
perpetually  suggest  to  him  Unionism."1  He  is 
proud  of  the  mightiness  of  the  Eepublic.  With 
out  acute  susceptibility  to  criticism,  he  delights  in 
praise  of  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  his  country. 
"The  true  American  is  found  in  the  Great  Val 
ley."  Naturally,  therefore,  in  1854,  old  party 
trammels  were  soonest  cast  aside  by  the  people  of 
the  Northwest.  They  most  readily  bent  to  the 
task  of  forming  a  party  upon  the  corner-stone  of 
unionism  and  freedom,  a  party  opposed  to  state 
sovereignty  and  to  a  sectional  constitutional  inter 
pretation  which  would  shield  wrong.  They  gave 
their  strength  to  the  party  which  advocated  nation 
alism.  From  1854  until  the  close  of  the  civil 
war,  the  upper  part  of  the  Great  Valley  was  the 
centre  of  loyalty  and  Kepublicanism.  Here  was 
the  early  home  of  the  new  union-anti-slavery  party, 
and  it  has  never  yet  wandered  far  from  its  birth 
place;  every  one  of  its  successful  candidates  for 
the  presidency  has  come  from  the  old  Northwest, 
and  all  its  nominees,  save  one,  have  been  Western 
men. 

1  Draper's  History  of  the  American  Civil  War,  vol.  i.  p.  412. 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE    303 

In  addition  to  this  natural  tendency,  there  were 
two  other  reasons  for  the  appearance  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  in  the  West,  before  the  East  was  ready 
to  break  old  party  lines.  The  South  long  counted 
on  the  influence  of  commercial  conservatism  in  the 
North,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  this  operated 
much  more  strongly  in  the  mercantile  centres  of 
the  East  than  in  the  farming  West,  which  had 
few  commercial  relations  with  the  cotton  States. 
The  second  reason  was  an  equally  potent  one. 
The  Northwest  was  honeycombed  by  the  under 
ground  railroad.  The  fugitives  from  service  found 
their  way  to  Canada  by  the  shortest  road,  and  the 
slave  chase  awakened  Northwestern  resentment. 

Upon  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  bill  there 
came  a  demand  for  a  new  party.  Men  who  had 
never  voted  a  Free-Soil  ticket  now  avowed  their 
willingness  to  support  any  candidate  on  a  sound 
anti-slavery  platform.  The  East,  with  its  usual 
conservatism,  hesitated  to  break  old  ties  and  to 
launch  a  new  party  without  prestige  and  tradi 
tions.  Possibly  the  very  first  active  suggestion 
of  the  new  party  came  from  the  little  town  of 
Ripon,  Wisconsin.  There,  in  February,  1854, 
while  the  obnoxious  act  was  under  discussion  in 
Congress,  a  local  meeting  was  held,  and  the  prin 
ciples  for  the  coming  emergency  were  considered. 
On  March  20,  in  a  town  meeting,  the  committees 
of  the  Whig  and  Free-Soil  parties  were  dissolved 
and  a  new  committee  was  chosen,  composed  of 
three  Whigs,  one  Free-Soiler,  and  one  Democrat. 


304  LEWIS  CASS 

Thus  in  miniature  were  the  dissolution  of  the  old 
and  the  formation  of  the  new  faithfully  typified. 
The  "solitary  tallow  candle"  and  the  "little  white 
schoolhouse  "  have  become  immortal  in  our  history. 
In  May,  immediately  after  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  some  thirty  congressmen  at 
Washington  met  and  considered  the  formation  of 
the  "Republican"  party. 

By  that  time  the  name  was  in  the  air.  It  was 
a  question  as  to  where  and  by  whom  it  should  be 
adopted.  Horace  Greeley,  who  had  fought  so 
valiantly  against  slavery,  was  getting  disheartened. 
"I  faintly  hope  the  time  has  come  predicted  by 
Dan  Webster  when  he  said :  '  I  think  there  will 
be  a  North. ' '  The  veterans  of  the  East  listened 
to  calls  from  the  excited  Northwest.  Editors  "can 
direct  and  animate  a  healthy  public  indignation, 
but  not  create  a  soul  beneath  the  ribs  of  Death." 1 
Greeley  wrote  to  Jacob  M.  Howard  of  Michigan, 
that  Wisconsin  on  July  13  would  adopt  the  name 
Republican,  and  he  advised  Michigan  to  anticipate 
such  action  in  the  convention  summoned  for  the 
6th.2  But  no  such  advice  was  needed ;  the  work 
of  arousing  interest  in  such  a  plan  was  already 
begun,  and  to  Michigan  belongs  the  honor  of  really 
conceiving  and  christening  the  Republican  party. 
The  "Detroit  Tribune,"  June  2,  formulated  its 
proposition  frankly:  "Our  proposition  is  that  a 

1  Greeley,  quoted  in  Fowler's  History  of  the  Republican  Party, 
p.  163. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  173. 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE    305 

convention  be  called,  irrespective  of  party  organi 
zation,  for  the  purpose  of  agreeing  upon  some  plan 
of  action  that  shall  combine  the  whole  anti-slavery 
sentiment  of  the  State  upon  one  ticket."  The 
"call"  published  in  that  paper,  said  to  be  the 
work  of  Isaac  P.  Christiancy,  began  with  the 
words,  "A  great  wrong  has  been  perpetrated." 
It  invited  all,  "without  reference  to  former  politi 
cal  associations,  who  think  the  time  has  arrived 
for  Union  at  the  North  to  protect  liberty  from 
being  overthrown  and  downtrodden,  to  assemble 
in  mass  convention,  Thursday  the  sixth  of  July 
next,  at  one  o'clock,  at  Jackson,  there  to  take 
such  measures  as  shall  be  thought  best  to  concen 
trate  the  popular  sentiment  of  this  State  against 
the  encroachments  of  the  slave  power." 

On  that  date,  July  6,  1854,  the  Whigs  and 
Free-Soilers,  or  the  "Free  Democracy"  of  Michi 
gan,  met  and  formed  a  single  party.  The  name 
Republican  was  adopted.  A  powerful  platform, 
attributed  to  Jacob  M.  Howard,  was  accepted  as 
the  basis  of  the  new  party.  It  resolved  "That  in 
view  of  the  necessity  of  battling  for  the  first  prin 
ciples  of  republican  government  and  against  the 
schemes  of  aristocracy,  the  most  revolting  and 
oppressive  with  which  the  world  was  ever  cursed 
or  man  debased,  we  will  cooperate  and  be  known 
as  Republicans  until  the  contest  be  terminated." 
The  strength  of  the  new  party  was  at  once  great. 
Wisconsin  took  the  same  position  the  next  week. 
In  the  East  the  Whigs,  as  a  rule,  maintained 


306  LEWIS  CASS 

their  organization.     The  Northwest  was  on  its  feet 
and  equipped  for  battle. 

Under  these  circumstances  General  Cass  had 
a  hard  campaign  in  Michigan.  The  theory  of 
"squatter  sovereignty,"  which  he  first  had  amply 
unfolded  to  the  world,  was  now  made  applicable 
to  nearly  all  the  Territories;  but  his  own  State 
had  inaugurated  an  attack  upon  the  doctrine,  and 
in  his  own  city  strong  men  were  loathing  it.  He 
spoke  at  length  before  the  Democratic  convention 
of  Michigan  in  September,  and  took  an  active 
part  in  the  campaign,  ably  defending  his  theory 
of  the  Constitution  and  the  incompetence  of  Con 
gress  in  territorial  government.  ,  In  the  course  of 
his  speech  before  the  convention  he  denounced 
slavery  as  a  great  social  and  political  evil,  asserted 
that  he  had  said  the  same  thing  more  than  once 
in  the  Senate,  and  that  he  never  entertained  any 
other  opinion  regarding  it.  His  whole  career  at 
tests  the  truth  of  this.  But  the  slaveholders,  now 
keenly  sensitive  to  unkind  allusions,  resented  such 
unpleasant  truths.  The  South  fondly  nursed  the 
viper  which  was  poisoning  its  life.  The  "Rich 
mond  Enquirer  "  arraigned  Cass  before  the  bar  of 
popular  judgment :  "  If  this  language  be  correctly 
given  in  the  report  of  his  speech,  he  has  severed 
the  last  cord  which  bound  him  to  the  Democracy 
of  the  South."  Cass  had  tried  to  do  "justice  "  to 
both  sections,  and  had  fallen  into  disrepute  with 
each.  It  is  pathetic  to  see  him  left  naked  to  his 
enemies  after  all  his  zealous  service  and  honest 


REPEAL  OF  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE    307 

striving  after  duty,  which  in  the  corrupt  currents 
of  the  world  does  not  always  lie  in  the  trimming 
consideration  of  contesting  principles.  The  "En 
quirer"  ranked  him  with  those  "illustrious  apos 
tates,"  Benton  and  Van  Buren,  "in  the  limbo  of 
lost  and  dishonored  politicians,"  —  a  trio,  one 
would  think,  of  no  mean  proportions.  On  No 
vember  4,  in  a  "grand  rally"  at  Detroit,  Cass 
elaborately  defended  his  spoiled  child,  "squatter 
sovereignty."  He  took  leave  of  the  South,  but 
avowed  his  purpose  manfully  to  defend  its  consti 
tutional  rights.  He  pleaded  with  friends  of  the 
Union  to  be  moderate  and  forbearing,  so  far  as 
mere  personal  interests  were  concerned,  but  coun 
seled  that  they  be  vigilant  for  the  maintenance 
of  justice  and  law.  It  was  an  able  and  noble 
speech.  This  man,  who  has  been  accused  of  vacil 
lation  and  skillful  legerdemain  in  politics,  knew 
how  to  cling  amid  the  abuse  of  foes,  and  of  old- 
time  friends,  to  a  position  which  he  thought  right. 
The  spirit  of  Henry  Clay  and  of  the  past  genera 
tion  permeated  the  speech  of  the  4th  of  November. 
It  contained  the  old  calmness,  the  fairness,  and 
the  judicial  blindness  which  would  not  and  could 
not  see  that  moral  enthusiasm  was  awakened,  and 
that  argument  could  no  more  lull  it  to  sleep  than 
whistling  could  calm  a  tempest. 

The  result  of  the  elections  showed  the  strength 
of  protest  against  the  violation  of  the  compromise. 
The  Northwest  vigorously  supported  the  new  party. 
Michigan  elected  the  whole  state  ticket,  and  three 


308  LEWIS  CASS 

out  of  four  congressmen.  Cass  seemed  ill  requited 
for  his  services  to  the  old  party,  but  a  comparison 
of  the  figures  will  prove  that,  though  his  influence 
had  waned,  it  was  still  of  weight.  Two  of  the 
three  congressmen  elected  in  Wisconsin  were  Re- 
publicans.  In  Illinois,  the  Nebraska  and  Doug 
las  Democrats  were  18,000  behind  in  the  vote  of 
the  State,  although  two  years  before  Pierce  had 
had  a  clear  majority  of  more  than  5000  over 
Scott  and  Hale,  the  last  having  received  less  than 
10,000  votes.  Even  in  Indiana  the  Republicans 
had  a  majority  of  some  14,000.  Ohio,  of  course, 
came  prominently  forward.  The  old  Western  Re 
serve  district  cast  two  Republican  votes  for  every 
one  cast  for  Nebraska  and  "squatter  sovereignty." 
Maine  was  the  only  one  of  the  Eastern  States  that 
adopted  for  the  campaign  the  new  name  or  elected 
a  Republican  ticket. 

The  different  elements  in  Northwestern  life  once 
more  gave  evidence  of  the  power  of  inherited  ideas 
and  prejudices.  The  Southern  element,  as  if  in 
obedience  to  the  famous  words  of  King  James's 
charter,  1609,  advanced  into  the  country  on  a  line 
running  "west  and  northwest,"  —  its  presence  is 
evident  in  the  southern  counties  of  Indiana,  —  and 
running  northward  penetrated  as  far  north  as  the 
centre  of  Illinois.  In  the  northern  tier  of  coun 
ties,  which  were  settled  from  New  York  and  New 
England,  the  Republican  vote  was  8372,  and  the 
Nebraska  vote  2776;  in  the  ninth  district,  in  the 
southern  point,  2911  votes  were  cast  for  the  Re- 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    309 

publican  candidate,  and  8498  for  the  Democratic. 
Possibly  the  most  characteristic  and  startling  ex 
ception,  which  proved  the  rule,  was  the  vote  of 
Madison  County,  the  former  home  of  Edward 
Coles,  who  moved  from  Virginia  to  Illinois  to  free 
his  slaves,  and  left  the  impress  of  his  character 
on  the  surrounding  country.  Madison  County 
cast  2220  Kepublican  ballots,  and  but  393  "for 
Nebraska." 

The  great  danger  to  the  Eepublican  party  seemed 
to  be  the  American  party,  —  a  sub  rosa  organiza 
tion,  which  attempted  to  substitute  another  ques 
tion  for  the  slavery  question,  and  to  excite  the 
people  by  holding  up  the  spectre  of  Rome  and  the 
tyranny  of  Catholicism.  This  party  was  not  built 
on  the  broad  foundation  of  the  necessity  of  pre 
serving  a  pure  ballot  and  free  government  by 
maintaining  sound  American  doctrine  and  insist 
ing  upon  good  American  intelligence  as  a  basis 
for  suffrage.  Its  platform  was  not  so  much  its 
oft-repeated  "America  for  Americans,"  as  it  was 
America  for  Protestants,  and  anything  to  avoid  a 
decision  on  the  real  problems  of  the  day.  Its  se 
cret  organization  was  at  once  an  insult  to  the  people 
and  the  assurance  of  its  failure.  No  "order" 
having  a  hierarchy  and  degrees,  and  encumbering 
a  political  topic  with  paraphernalia  and  mystic 
symbolism,  can  rise  to  dignity  in  a  free  country 
and  dominate  a  frank  and  thoughtful  people,  the 
very  essence  of  whose  institutions  is  common 
participation,  common  undertaking,  and  common 


310  LEWIS  CASS 

judgment.  So  great,  however,  was  the  desire  of 
men  in  those  harrowing  days  to  avoid  responsibil 
ity  that  this  organization  assumed  alarming  pro 
portions,  and  threatened  the  success  of  the  party 
which  faced  present  realities.  It  served  a  purpose 
quite  different  from  the  one  hoped  for  or  contem 
plated.  Whigs  and  Democrats  too  obstinate  or 
proud  to  transfer  their  allegiance  at  once  to  the 
Republicans  took  this  secret  passage,  and  finally 
emerged  thence  into  good  standing  with  the  anti- 
slavery  party,  without  the  shame  of  having  changed 
their  coats  in  broad  daylight. 

This  organization  appeared  in  1852.  At  first 
it  simply  interrogated  candidates,  but  in  1854  it 
masqueraded  as  a  political  party,  and  for  a  few 
years  played  its  role  not  without  some  success. 
In  some  of  the  Eastern  States,  especially,  it  held 
its  head  high;  and  in  the  border  States  it  long 
lingered,  until  Western  Republicanism  with  its 
sense  of  present  duty,  sincerity,  and  actuality 
shamed  it  out  of  sight.  The  real  name  adopted 
by  these  whispering  politicians  was  as  silly  as 
their  purpose.  "The  Sons  of  '76,  or  the  Order 
of  the  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  was  the  title  used 
in  its  inner  mysterious  circles.  The  sobriquet, 
"Know-Nothing,"  arose  from  the  answers  of  its 
members,  who  uniformly  replied  "I  don't  know" 
to  all  inquiries  as  to  the  name  and  purpose  of  the 
organization ;  only  those  who  had  taken  the  higher 
degrees  knew  its  more  serious  intents  or  how  am 
bitiously  it  had  been  christened.  No  party  can 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    311 

hope  to  succeed  in  the  United  States  which  has 
but  one  aim,  and  that,  too,  not  a  political  one. 
The  success  of  the  Republican  party  has  often 
been  cited  to  disprove  such  a  statement  and  to 
furnish  inspiration  for  new  movements.  The  his 
toric  analogy  is  deceptive.  The  Republican  party, 
although  inspired  with  a  truly  moral  purpose,  was 
a  political  party,  with  a  well  -  known  and  well- 
defined  policy  in  affairs  of  state,  and  not  simply 
a  combination  of  enthusiasts  burning  with  zeal 
for  the  realization  of  a  single  idea.  The  Know- 
Nothing  party  had  no  political  virility.  "It  would 
seem,"  sneered  Greeley,  "as  devoid  of  the  ele 
ments  of  persistence  as  an  anti-cholera  or  an  anti- 
potato-rot  party  would  be."  J 

Such  an  unwholesome  fungus  was  specially  ob 
noxious  to  Cass,  who  was  peculiarly  liberal  and 
sympathetic.  He  was  too  much  of  a  scholar  to 
be  a  bigot,  and  too  much  a  man  of  affairs  to  be 
a  pedant.  He  lamented  that  such  narrow  and 
bitter  intolerance  could  exist.  "Mr.  President," 
he  said  in  the  Senate,  "strange  doctrines  are 
abroad,  and  strange  organizations  are  employed 
to  promulgate  and  enforce  them.  Our  political 
history  contains  no  such  chapter  in  the  progress 
of  our  country  as  that  which  is  now  opening.  The 
grave  questions  of  constitutionality  and  policy, 
which  have  been  so  long  the  battle-cry  of  parties, 
are  contemptuously  rejected,  and  intolerance,  reli 
gious  and  political,  finds  zealous,  and  it  may  be 
1  Whig  Almanac,  1855,  p.  23. 


312  LEWIS  CASS 

they  will  prove  successful,  advocates,  in  this  mid 
dle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  boasting  with  much 
self-complacency  of  its  intelligence,  and,  in  this 
free  country,  founded  upon  immigration,  and  grown 
powerful  and  prosperous  by  toleration.  It  is  a 
system  of  proscription  which  would  exclude  the 
first  general  who  fell  at  the  head  of  an  organized 
American  army  .  .  .  from  all  political  confidence, 
because  he  happened  to  be  born  on  the  wrong  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  would  exclude,  also,  the  last 
surviving  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  from  any  similar  token  of  regard  because 
he  was  a  Catholic,  were  those  eminent  leaders  in 
our  revolutionary  cause  now  living  to  witness  this 
appeal  to  local  and  sectarian  prejudices."1  This 
spirit  of  fanaticism  and  intolerance  Cass  unfortu 
nately  considered  a  part  and  parcel  of  that  North 
ern  enthusiasm  which  had  begotten  the  Republi 
can  party.  He  did  not  see  that  nativism  was 
merely  histrionic.  Hamlet  called  to  duty,  feigns 
a  silly  madness,  goes  about  unkempt,  wreaks  in 
sudden  wrath  unpremeditated  vengeance  on  poor 
old  Polonius,  arranges  a  pretty  mimicry  of  the 
murder  in  the  garden,  all  to  tickle  his  imagina 
tion,  consume  time,  and  delay  action. 

Resolutions  from  the  legislature  of  Michigan 
were  presented  in  the  Senate,  February  5,  1855, 
by  Mr.  Stuart,  the  colleague  of  General  Cass,  in 
structing  these  two  gentlemen,  and  requesting  the 
representatives,  to  vote  for  an  act  prohibiting  slav- 

1  Cong.  Globe,  vol.  xxx.  p.  556. 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    313 

ery  in  the  territories,  and  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Cass  replied  at  length,  re 
fusing  to  obey  the  dictates  of  a  party  which  had 
suddenly  and,  as  he  believed,  temporarily  become 
possessed  of  the  government  of  the  State.  When 
instructed  before,  he  had  acknowledged  that  such 
instructions  were  valid  "under  proper  circum 
stances,"  but  asserted  that  there  were  "limitations 
upon  this  exercise."  He  now  thought  these  limi 
tations  in  force.  He  was  fully  persuaded  that  the 
adoption  of  the  measure  proposed  "would  be  the 
signal  for  the  breaking  up  of  the  government  and 
the  dissolution  of  the  Confederacy."  Mr.  Stuart 
followed  the  example  of  his  senior  colleague. 

The  South  was  alert  in  many  directions  during 
these  years.  Its  appetite,  only  whetted  by  the 
acquisition  of  Texas  and  the  West,  those  pleasing 
results  of  Southern  "filibustering,"  craved  more 
for  slavery.  Cuba,  almost  touching  Florida,  was 
provokingly  near,  and  the  South  was  tantalized 
by  the  propinquity.  Not  to  speak  of  attempts  at 
robbery,  more  than  one  attempt  had  been  made  in 
previous  years  to  secure  the  island  honorably.  In 
1852  England  and  France  suggested  to  the  United 
States  that  the  three  countries  pledge  themselves 
not  to  make  any  effort  to  acquire  Cuba.  Our 
country  refused.  In  August,  1854,  James  Buch 
anan,  J.  Y.  Mason,  and  Pierre  Soule,  ministers 
to  England,  France,  and  Spain,  were  instructed 
to  meet  and  to  adopt  measures  for  perfect  concert 
of  action  directed  to  the  end  of  obtaining  Cuba 


314  LEWIS  CASS 

from  Spain.  From  Aix  la  Chapelle,  in  October, 
they  issued  what  is  known  as  the  Ostend  Mani 
festo.  After  outlining  how  profitable  and  honor 
able  a  sale  of  the  "fair  isle "  would  prove  for 
Spain,  this  notorious  document  pointed  to  the 
needs  of  the  United  States  in  the  premises,  and 
contemplated  the  possible  necessity  of  "wresting" 
the  treasure  from  its  owner.  It  was  said  that  we 
should  be  "recreant  to  our  duty  and  unworthy  of 
our  gallant  forefathers,  and  commit  base  treason 
against  our  posterity,  should  we  permit  Cuba  to 
be  Africanized  and  become  a  second  St.  Domingo 
with  all  its  attendant  horrors  to  the  white  race, 
and  suffer  the  flames  to  extend  to  our  own  neigh 
boring  shores,  seriously  to  endanger,  or  actually 
to  consume,  the  fair  fabric  of  our  Union."  This 
shameful  proclamation,  characterized  by  the  Re 
publican  platform  of  1856  as  "the  highwaymen's 
plea,  that  might  makes  right,"  was  at  first  scarcely 
credited  in  its  enormity  at  home  or  abroad.  It 
was  not,  however,  discountenanced  by  the  Pierce 
administration.  The  free  American  Republic  held 
itself  out  to  the  world  as  the  armed  champion  of 
slavery,  and  acknowledged  its  brutal  indifference 
in  the  face  of  Christendom.  The  countries  of 
Europe,  too  apt  to  hide  larceny  under  the  cloak 
of  diplomacy,  looked  upon  our  avowed  greed  with 
a  sense  of  awe,  surprise,  and  shame  at  the  inartis 
tic  nudity  of  our  propositions,  not  covered  even 
by  respectable  and  cunning  verbiage. 

Such  schemes  attracted  the  attention  of  Cass. 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    315 

He  had  a  never-failing  ambition  for  his  country 
and  a  never-ceasing  suspicion  of  England.  In 
February,  1854,  he  called  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  to  a  speech  delivered  by  Lord  Clarendon, 
in  which  it  was  announced  that  on  questions  of 
policy  the  French  and  English  nations  were  in 
entire  accord  in  every  part  of  the  world.  Cass 
then  declared  that  this  meant  opposition  to  our  ac 
quisition  of  Cuba;  and,  though  Lord  Clarendon 
afterward,  in  referring  to  this  statement,  dis 
claimed  all  such  agreements  or  intentions,  and 
was  said  to  be  "the  most  astonished  man  in  Eu 
rope  at  General  Cass's  construction  of  his  speech," 
yet  circumstantial  evidence  strongly  contradicts 
his  denial.  Alluding  again  in  February,  1855,  to 
the  general  subject  of  our  foreign  relations,  after 
the  issue  of  the  Ostend  Manifesto,  Cass  in  a  mas 
terly  speech  resented  the  interference  of  foreign 
countries.  Yet  the  stealing  of  Cuba  he  heartily 
condemned :  "  Such  a  case  of  rapacity  will,  I  trust, 
never  stain  our  annals."  While  condemning  all 
allusions  to  "filibustering,  and  the  bullying  spirit 
of  Democracy,"  and  while  irritated  by  the  paternal 
tone  of  European  nations,  he  did  not  forget  common 
decency  or  advocate  robbery  in  behalf  of  slavery. 

This  buccaneering  spirit,  grown  so  great  by 
feeding  on  the  coarse  meat  of  slavery,  manifested 
itself  in  many  ways.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
conquer  and  colonize  Nicaragua  and  to  give  it  up 
to  the  unique  civilization  of  the  South.  The  De 
mocratic  convention  which  nominated  Buchanan 


316  LEWIS  CASS 

actually  proclaimed  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  could  but  "sympathize  with  the  efforts 
which  are  being  made  by  the  people  of  Central 
America  to  regenerate  that  portion  of  the  continent 
which  covers  the  passage  across  the  inter-oceanic 
isthmus."  A  belief  in  the  "positive  goodness"  of 
slavery  had  made  the  South  mad.  This  "regener 
ating  "  process  was  unsuccessful.  Moreover,  those 
who  had  longed  for  more  territory  in  the  West 
now  asked  for  more  slaves  to  fill  it.  "We  are 
losing  Kansas,"  said  the  "Charleston  Standard," 
in  1856,  "because  we  are  lacking  in  population." 
The  only  remedy  seemed  a  reopening  of  the  traffic 
which  had  been  piracy  for  thirty  years  and  more. 

The  attitude  of  Cass  on  the  questions  of  inter 
national  concern  from  1850  to  1856  was  not  far 
from  right.  He  made  a  number  of  very  able 
speeches,  all  showing  his  old-time  jealousy  of  in 
terference  by  foreign  powers.  The  Clayton-Bul- 
wer  treaty  he  had  accepted  with  the  hope  that  it 
would  settle  some  of  our  difficulties  regarding 
Central  America.  But  when  England,  desiring 
a  substantial  footing  in  that  reentrant  angle  of  our 
continent,  began  to  quibble  and  demur,  he  ex 
pressed  his  usual  antipathy  to  what  he  considered 
her  ambitious  duplicity.  The  last  speeches  of  his 
active  life  in  the  Senate  exhibit  little  decline  in 
vigor  of  thought  and  feeling. 

In  the  meantime  the  contest  for  the  possession 
of  Kansas  was  waging.  Such  scenes  a  modern 
American  would  wish  to  pass  by  with  averted 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    317 

eyes.  Missouri  poured  armed  ruffians  over  the 
border  to  hold  the  Territory  for  slavery,  and  for 
some  time  this  element  seemed  to  have  its  own 
way.  A  pro-slavery  territorial  government  was 
established  early  in  1855  by  wholesale  fraud  and 
intimidation.  A  series  of  acts  were  passed  which 
savored  of  the  blackest  of  the  early  laws  of  South 
Carolina.  Governor  Reeder  vetoed  such  bills,  but 
they  were  passed  without  hesitation  over  his  veto. 
At  the  petition  of  the  pro-slavery  men  he  was  re 
moved,  and  Wilson  Shannon  of  Ohio  was  named 
in  his  stead.  At  the  outset  this  man  apparently 
showed  a  zeal  for  ruffianism  and  barbarity,  and 
in  the  end  was  incompetent.  The  Free-State  men, 
in  October,  1855,  formed  a  constitution  and,  after 
the  adoption  of  it  by  the  people,  they  applied  for 
admittance  into  the  Union.  In  March,  1856,  the 
House  sent  a  committee,  composed  of  William  A. 
Howard  of  Michigan,  John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  and 
Mordecai  Oliver  of  Missouri,  to  examine  the  pro 
ceedings  in  Kansas.  The  first  two  members  de 
clared  in  their  report  that  elections  were  carried 
by  fraud  and  violence,  and  that  this  constitution 
framed  by  the  convention  embodied  the  will  of  a 
majority  of  the  people.  A  bill  to  admit  Kansas 
under  this  free  constitution,  at  first  defeated  in 
the  House,  was  afterwards  passed  by  a  majority 
of  two.  The  Senate,  however,  preferred  to  pass 
an  act  for  authorizing  the  formation  of  a  constitu 
tion  under  which  the  Territory  could  be  admit 
ted.  Cass  was  selected  to  propose  the  memorial 


318  LEWIS  CASS 

of  the  Topeka  legislature  asking  for  the  admit 
tance  of  the  State.  Yet  he  was  opposed  to  the 
recognition  of  an  instrument  agreed  upon  by  "one 
portion  "  of  the  people.  He  was  in  favor  of  allow 
ing  the  citizens  of  the  Territory  to  vote  fairly  upon 
the  question;  but  he  did  not  approve  of  admitting 
the  State  under  the  Topeka  Free  State  Constitu 
tion  above  referred  to,  asserting  that  such  a  course 
would  simply  perpetuate  ill  feeling  and  division. 
On  May  12  and  13,  1856,  he  spoke  at  length  on 
this  topic,  severely  arraigning  Seward  and  others 
who  tried  to  heap  upon  the  administration  the 
opprobrium  of  the  anarchy  of  Kansas. 

S.umner  followed  Cass  on  the  19th  and  20th. 
This  famous  speech  reached  the  highest  point  in 
the  denunciation  of  slavery  and  its  devotees.  The 
Northern  men  with  Southern  principles  were  de 
nounced  as  bitterly  as  the  Southern  men  with  no 
principles.  Senator  Butler  of  South  Carolina  was 
depicted  as  the  Don  Quixote  of  slavery,  accom 
panied  by  Douglas  as  its  very  Sancho  Panza.  There 
was  no  cowardly  mincing  of  terms,  but  the  crime 
against  Kansas  was  presented  with  all  the  burning 
eloquence  of  this  classicist  among  American  ora 
tors.  Because  of  his  tendency  to  load  his  speech 
with  overwrought  and  hyper  -  cunning  phrases, 
and  to  burden  it  with  historic  allusions  and  Latin 
quotations,  highly  dramatic  passages  sometimes 
fell  flat  before  an  unappreciative  audience.  But 
now  he  was  so  much  in  earnest,  so  bitter  in  his 
intensity,  that  the  galleries  and  the  Senate  listened 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    319 

with  breathless  attention  to  his  daring,  scathing 
attack,  and  watched  him  in  bewilderment  as  he 
tore  garment  and  veil  from  the  foul  creature  he  de 
tested.  He  ended  with  an  appeal  for  the  purity  of 
the  ballot  and  protection  against  violence,  that  free 
labor  might  not  be  blasted  by  unwelcome  associa 
tion  with  slave  labor.  "In  dutiful  respect  for  the 
early  Fathers,  whose  aspirations  are  now  ignobly 
thwarted;  in  the  name  of  the  Constitution  which 
has  been  outraged,  of  the  laws  trampled  down  — 
of  justice  banished  —  of  humanity  degraded  —  of 
peace  destroyed  —  of  freedom  crushed  to  earth;  and 
in  the  name  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  whose  service 
is  perfect  freedom,  I  make  this  last  appeal." 

When  Sumner  sat  down  Cass  rose.  He  had 
listened,  he  said,  with  equal  regret  and  surprise  to 
this  speech,  "the  most  un-American  and  unpatriotic 
that  ever  grated  on  the  ears  of  the  members  of  this 
high  body."  Douglas  followed  with  a  highly  per 
sonal  and  offensive  speech,  ranting  like  a  common 
scold,  and  storming  about  with  wild  and  uncouth 
gesticulations.  Sumner 's  reply  to  these  respond 
ents  so  amply  discloses  his  estimate  of  the  charac 
ter  of  each  that  it  merits  passing  attention.  The 
following  reference  to  Cass  shows  the  respect  of 
this  ardent  anti-slavery  man,  and  goes  far  to  dis 
prove  the  groundless  attacks  upon  Cass's  conduct 
and  character  which  became  so  common  at  the 
North  in  the  heat  of  the  slavery  discussion :  "  The 
senator  from  Michigan  knows  full  well  that  nothing 
can  fall  from  me  which  can  have  anything  but 


320  LEWIS  CASS 

kindness  for  him.  He  has  said  on  the  floor  to 
day  that  he  listened  to  my  speech  with  regret.  I 
have  never  avowed  on  this  floor  how  often,  with 
my  heart  brimming  full  of  friendship  for  him,  I 
have  listened  with  regret  to  what  has  fallen  from 
his  lips."  Douglas  was  treated  to  a  castigation, 
which  must  have  made  the  "Little  Giant"  squirm, 
bold  as  he  was.  "No  person  with  the  upright 
form  of  a  man  can  be  allowed,  without  violation 
of  all  decency,  to  switch  out  from  his  tongue  the 
perpetual  stench  of  offensive  personality."  These 
parallel  passages  illustrate  the  kindness  felt  for 
the  sincere,  earnest,  scholarly,  mistaken  advocate 
of  "squatter  sovereignty,"  and  the  dislike  for  the 
younger  advocate  of  the  same  false  doctrine. 

This  speech,  too  caustic  and  trenchant  to  be  re 
ceived  with  calmness  by  Southern  members,  was 
ground  for  personal  assault.  Preston  S.  Brooks, 
a  member  of  the  House  from  South  Carolina,  took 
it  upon  himself  to  avenge  the  honor  of  the  South 
and  his  State.  A  day  or  two  after  the  speech  was 
delivered,  he  entered  the  senate  chamber,  and  find 
ing  Mr.  Sumner  at  his  desk  he  brutally  attacked 
him,  striking  him  over  the  head  with  a  heavy 
walking  cane,  and  leaving  him  bruised  and  insen 
sible  on  the  floor.  It  was  years  before  Sumner 
recovered  his  health  and  strength  sufficiently  to 
continue  his  duties,  and  he  was  never  again  the 
same  man;  his  physical  vigor  was  permanently 
impaired.  His  empty  chair  long  stood  as  a  mute 
appeal  to  the  thoughtful  lovers  of  justice. 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    321 

Cass  was  elected  by  the  Senate  a  member  of  a 
committee  to  investigate  the  circumstances  of  the 
assault.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  did  not  find 
words  to  denounce  such  a  shameful  attack  upon 
free  speech.  The  Senate  committee  reported  lack 
of  jurisdiction,  and  the  House  of  Representatives 
was  unable  to  secure  the  necessary  two  thirds  for 
the  expulsion  of  Brooks.  Because  of  the  implied 
censure  in  the  resolutions,  however,  he  resigned, 
and  asserted  that  the  House  had  no  jurisdiction 
over  him.  He  was  quickly  reflected  by  his  dis 
trict,  where  he  was  received  with  enthusiasm  and 
affection.  "Hit  him  again,"  were  the  words  of 
admonition  from  his  constituents,  and  the  Southern 
papers  applauded  his  "  elegant  and  effectual "  blows. 
This  assault,  as  much  as  any  other  one  thing, 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  North  to  the  brutality,  the 
roughness,  and  the  hopeless  vulgarity  of  the  "di 
vine  institution."  "There  is  no  denying  the  hu 
miliating  fact,"  said  the  "Springfield  Republican," 
"that  this  country  is  under  the  reign  of  ruffian 
ism.  The  remedy  for  ruffianism  is  in  a  united 
North."  The  disease  begat  the  remedy. 

The  campaign  of  1856  followed  close  upon  these 
exciting  events.  The  Democratic  National  Con 
vention  met  in  Cincinnati  in  June.  Buchanan 
had  the  lead  from  the  start,  and  was  nominated. 
In  answer  to  a  letter  signed  by  Andrew  F.  Web 
ster  and  others  in  November  of  1855,  Cass  said 
that  he  did  not  desire  to  have  his  name  used  in 
the  convention ;  but  some  of  the  delegates  insisted 


322  LEWIS  CASS 

on  voting  for  him.  He  received  only  five  votes 
on  the  first  ballot,  and  at  no  time  showed  great 
strength,  though  retaining  a  few  faithful  adherents 
to  the  end.  John  C.  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky 
was  nominated  as  vice-president.  The  convention 
adopted  a  platform  on  the  old  lines,  repudiating 
"all  sectional  parties  .  .  .  whose  avowed  pur 
pose,  if  consummated,  must  end  in  civil  war  and 
disunion."  "Non-interference  "  was  once  more 
proclaimed  the  sovereign  remedy.  The  American 
party  put  Fillmore  in  nomination,  and  he  attracted 
the  few  Whigs  who  still  answered  to  the  name. 
The  Republicans,  holding  their  first  national  con 
vention  at  Philadelphia,  selected  as  their  candi 
dates  John  C.  Fremont  of  California  and  William 
L.  Dayton  of  New  Jersey.  The  platform  was 
definite  and  decided.  It  recounted  the  crimes 
against  Kansas,  and  advocated  its  immediate  ad 
mission  as  a  State  under  a  free  constitution;  it 
denied  "the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  territorial 
legislature,  of  any  individual  or  association  of  in 
dividuals,  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any 
Territory  of  the  United  States,"  and  proclaimed 
its  belief  that  Congress  had  "  sovereign  power  over 
the  Territories  of  the  United  States."  The  issue 
between  the  two  great  parties  was  sharply  drawn. 
One  announced  that  Congress  had  authority  over 
the  Territories,  and  was  in  duty  bound  to  exercise 
it  for  the  prevention  of  slavery.  The  other  ad 
vocated  the  uniform  application  of  the  "demo 
cratic  principle  "  of  non-interference  in  "the  organ- 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    323 

ization  of  the  Territories  and  the  admission  of  new 
States." 

The  campaign  was  one  of  the  most  serious,  ear 
nest,  and  enthusiastic  in  our  history.  Fremont, 
because  of  his  romantic  career  and  personal  charms, 
was  easily  converted  into  an  ideal  champion, 
strongly  appealing  to  the  imagination  and  the 
affection  of  the  vigorous  young  party  of  freedom. 
Everywhere  in  the  North  went  up  the  rallying  cry, 
"Free  soil,  free  speech,  free  men,  and  Fremont." 
The  times  were  not  yet  ripe  for  complete  success. 
The  Democratic  party  gained  the  day,  carrying 
every  Southern  State  save  Maryland,  which  gave 
itself  up  to  Know-Nothingism.  But  such  a  vic 
tory  was  the  victory  of  Pyrrhus.  The  Kepubli- 
cans  cast  more  votes  in  the  free  States  than  did 
the  Democrats.  In  the  East  only  Pennsylvania 
and  New  Jersey,  in  the  West  only  Illinois,  In 
diana,  and  California  cast  their  electoral  votes  for 
the  Democratic  candidate.  In  the  first  of  these 
alone,  Buchanan's  own  State,  did  the  Democrats 
outnumber  the  Kepublicans  and  Know-Nothings 
combined.  The  "sectional  party  "  exhibited  a 
wonderful  vigor.  The  threat  was  often  heard  in 
the  campaign  that  its  success  meant  the  separation 
of  the  Union.  From  the  time  of  this  election  that 
was  a  standing  menace. 

It  was  a  source  of  regret  to  Cass  that  a  party 
with  a  "sectional"  aim  should  find  support  in  the 
country.  For  above  all  else  he  loved  the  Union, 
and  he  hoped  against  hope  that  harmony  would 


324  LEWIS  CASS 

be  restored  by  the  old  sedatives  with  which  he  was 
familiar.  Michigan,  so  long  faithful  to  him,  now 
gave  Fremont  a  popular  plurality  of  nearly  twenty 
thousand,  and  elected  a  legislature  with  an  over 
whelming  Republican  majority.  January  10, 
1857,  Zachariah  Chandler  was  elected  to  succeed 
the  great  advocate  of  popular  sovereignty,  whose 
doctrine  his  own  State  now  so  vehemently  con 
demned.  Of  106  votes  cast  by  both  Houses  of 
the  legislature,  Cass  received  only  16.  His  defeat 
was  a  great  triumph  for  the  Republicans  of  the 
nation.  Though  they  had  failed  .to  elect  their 
"Pathfinder"  president,  they  felt  as  if  the  signal 
rebuke  administered  by  Michigan  was  equivalent 
to  a  victory. 

Meanwhile  matters  were  in  a  woeful  condition 
in  stricken  Kansas.  Governor  Shannon  had  re 
signed  in  despair,  feeling,  as  he  afterwards  ex 
pressed  it,  as  if  one  might  as  well  attempt  "to 
govern  the  Devil  in  hell"  as  to  govern  Kansas. 
John  "W".  Geary  of  Pennsylvania  succeeded  to  the 
trust.  The  Territory  was  literally  in  a  state  of 
war.  While  the  marching  and  counter-marching 
of  election  parades  were  exciting  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people  of  the  States,  men  in  the  harassed 
Territory  carried  the  rifle  instead  of  the  campaign 
torch,  and  filled  their  pouches  with  powder  and 
shot  as  the  most  eloquent  campaign  arguments. 
Before  the  opening  of  the  new  year  the  fighting 
seemed  to  have  ceased,  though  each  party  held  its 
breath  expectantly.  The  Free  State  government 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY    325 

still  claimed  legal  and  effective  existence,  while 
the  territorial  legislature,  described  as  a  "vulgar, 
illiterate,  hiccoughing  rout,"  plotted  and  planned 
for  slavery.  Governor  Geary,  suspecting  the  sin 
cerity  of  the  administration,  and  perceiving  that 
the  election  of  Buchanan  meant  a  victory  for  pro- 
slavery  partisanship  in  Kansas,  resigned  March 
4,  1857.  The  history  of  the  remaining  months  of 
the  year  is  quickly  told.  Robert  J.  Walker  of 
Mississippi,  appointed  to  succeed  Governor  Geary, 
prevailed  upon  the  Free  State  men  to  cease  dally 
ing  longer  with  their  mythical  state  constitution, 
and  to  join  in  the  territorial  elections  of  the  au 
tumn.  As  a  consequence,  these  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  a  Free  State  legislature.  In  the  mean 
time,  however,  a  convention  summoned  by  the  old 
pro-slavery  legislature  had  met  at  Lecompton  and 
adopted  a  constitution  recognizing  slavery.  It  was 
submitted  to  the  people;  but  instead  of  being 
allowed  to  cast  a  ballot  either  for  or  against  the 
constitution,  they  were  compelled  to  choose  between 
adopting  it  "with  slavery"  or  "without  slavery." 
The  Free  State  men  refused  to  vote,  and  it  conse 
quently  received  a  great  majority  of  the  ballots 
cast.  The  Lecompton  constitution,  thus  adopted 
by  the  pro-slavery  voters  of  the  Territory,  was  ac 
cepted  by  the  President,  and  the  next  year  it  was 
actually  recognized  by  the  Senate,  although  mean 
while,  on  a  fair  ballot,  it  had  been  emphatically 
rejected  by  the  people.  By  the  early  part  of  1858 
the  pro-slavery  party  was  so  hopelessly  in  the 


326  LEWIS  CASS 

minority  that  the  only  question  was  whether  Kan 
sas  should  be  admitted  as  a  free  State  or  barred 
out  entirely.  In  fact,  not  until  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Southern  senators,  after  the  election  of  Lin 
coln,  did  the  Senate  consent  to  its  admission  with 
a  constitution  forbidding  slavery. 

The  Kansas  trouble  is  a  long  and  bloody  disser 
tation  on  the  theme  of  popular  sovereignty.  The 
immigrants  from  the  free  States  had  won  the  day 
against  slavery.  Kansas  was  saved,  not  by  the 
Republican  party,  nor  by  the  abolitionists,  who 
talked  and  agitated,  but  by  the  men  who  went  to 
the  spot  to  express  their  "sovereignty"  and  to 
fight  for  freedom.  It  must  be  confessed  that,  as 
far  as  saving  the  Territories  from  becoming  slave 
States  is  concerned,  popular  sovereignty  had  not 
been  unsuccessful.  But  no  one  cared  to  see  again 
the  disgraceful  scramble  and  the  rough-and-tumble 
contest  for  vantage  ground.  By  the  beginning  of 
Buchanan's  administration  many  Democrats  began 
to  deny  that  the  people  of  a  Territory  had  a  right 
to  regulate  the  subject  of  slavery,  save  by  deter 
mining,  at  the  moment  of  their  entering  the  Union, 
whether  they  should  come  in  as  a  free  or  a  slave 
State.  To  the  people  of  the  South  popular  sover 
eignty  had  become  so  objectionable,  because  of  its 
failure  for  their  purposes,  that  it  was  openly 
spurned,  and  recourse  was  had  to  the  solid  ground 
of  Calhoun's  dogmas:  that  slaves  were  property, 
and  that  the  United  States  government  was  in 
duty  bound  to  protect  such  property  everywhere. 


THE  NORTHWEST  FORMS  A  NEW  PARTY  327 

Opposed  to  this  was  the  assertion  of  the  Republi- 
cans:  that  slaves  were  not  property  save  by  the 
"municipal"  law  of  certain  States;  that  Congress 
could  not  and  must  not,  by  act  or  omission  to  act, 
allow  the  Territories  of  the  Union  to  be  sullied  by 
the  foot  of  a  slave. 

Buchanan,  in  his  inaugural,  while  reaffirming 
the  right  of  the  people  of  a  Territory  to  decide  for 
themselves  what  their  constitution  should  be,  took 
all  the  pith  and  marrow  from  the  doctrine  of  popu 
lar  sovereignty  by  doubting  their  right  to  such  a 
determination,  except  at  the  time  of  their  forming 
a  state  constitution.  He  humbly  referred  the  mat 
ter,  however,  to  the  Supreme  Court,  of  whose 
coming  decision  he  seems  to  have  had  knowledge. 

The  Dred  Scott  decision,  March,  1857,  did  not 
help  matters.  The  solemn  statement,  coming  from 
a  portion  of  a  divided  court,  of  the  great  historical 
falsehood  that  negroes  were  not  and  could  not 
become  citizens;  the  promulgation  of  an  obiter 
dictum  calculated  to  have  effect  in  the  domain  of 
politics;  the  assertion  that  the  Missouri  compro 
mise  was  beyond  the  competence  of  Congress,  that 
slaves  were  property  when  taken  into  the  Territo 
ries,  and  that  all  "needful  rules  and  regulations" 
of  Congress  must  respect  the  private  property  of 
the  slave-owner,  —  all  this  simply  awakened  the 
Republican  party  to  greater  effort.  Wrong  now 
came  clothed  in  the  ermine  of  justice.  Effort 
must  not  cease  until  the  disgraceful  decision  was 
blotted  from  the  records  of  the  court. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SECRETARY  OF   STATE.  —  SECESSION.  —  THE   LAST 
YEARS 

FOR  the  sake  of  as  much  perspicuity  as  limited 
space  would  allow,  the  history  of  "bleeding  Kan 
sas"  under  border  ruffians  has  been  thus  briefly 
outlined,  and  the  contest  of  arguments  until  the 
secession  of  the  Southern  States  has  been  suggested 
in  advance.  It  will  now  be  necessary  to  turn  from 
internal  politics  and  the  hurly-burly  of  the  ap 
proaching  "irrepressible  conflict,"  and  to  look  into 
the  quieter  paths  of  administration  and  diplomacy. 
Cass's  more  active  career  ended  with  the  4th  of 
March,  1857.  He  remained  a  political  mentor  to 
many  in  his  party  and  took  a  sad  interest  in  the 
never-abating  struggle;  but  he  was  old,  the  excite 
ment  of  continual  controversy  was  distasteful,  and 
his  new  position  fortunately  gave  him  employment 
for  which  his  experience  and  talents  well  fitted  him. 
He  accepted  the  office  of  secretary  of  state  from 
President  Buchanan,  and  entered  upon  his  duties 
at  once.  His  companions  in  the  cabinet  were 
Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia,  secretary  of  the  treasury ; 
John  B.  Floyd  of  Virginia,  secretary  of  war;  Isaac 
Toucey  of  Connecticut,  secretary  of  the  navy; 


CHAPTER   XI 

SECRETARY  OF   STATE.  —  SECESSION.  —  THE    LAST 
YEARS 

FOR  the  sake  of  as  much  perspicuity  as  limited 
space  would  allow,  the  history  of  "bleeding  Kan 
sas  "  under  border  ruffians  has  been  thus  briefly 
outlined,  and  the  contest  of  arguments  until  the 
secession  of  the  Southern  States  has  been  suggested 
in  advance.  It  will  now  be  necessary  to  turn  from 
internal  politics  and  the  hurly-burly  of  the  ap 
proaching  "irrepressible  conflict,"  and  to  look  into 
the  quieter  paths  of  administration  and  diplomacy. 
Cass's  more  active  career  ended  with  the  4th  of 
March,  1857.  He  remained  a  political  mentor  to 
many  in  his  party  and  took  a  sad  interest  in  the 
never-abating  struggle;  but  he  was  old,  the  excite 
ment  of  continual  controversy  was  distasteful,  and 
his  new  position  fortunately  gave  him  employment 
for  which  his  experience  and  talents  well  fitted  him. 
He  accepted  the  office  of  secretary  of  state  from 
President  Buchanan,  and  entered  upon  his  duties 
at  once.  His  companions  in  the  cabinet  were 
Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia,  secretary  of  the  treasury ; 
John  B.  Floyd  of  Virginia,  secretary  of  war;  Isaac 
Toucey  of  Connecticut,  secretary  of  the  navy; 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  329 

Aaron  V.  Brown  of  Tennessee,  postmaster-gen 
eral;  Jacob  Thompson  of  Mississippi,  secretary 
of  the  interior;  and  Jeremiah  S.  Black  of  Penn 
sylvania,  attorney-general.  This  cabinet  was  an 
able  one,  but  its  four  Southern  members  well  indi 
cated  that  the  body  of  the  Democratic  party  was 
in  the  South,  and  that  an  administration  had  be 
gun  which  would  treat  slavery  with  tenderness  and 
handle  secession  with  gloves. 

A  number  of  interesting  diplomatic  problems 
were  offered  for  solution  during  the  years  of  Cass's 
secretaryship.  The  Clay  ton -Bui  wer  treaty  pre 
sented  the  usual  amount  of  uncertainty  and  em 
barrassment,  and  an  even  more  serious  cause  of 
disagreement  with  Great  Britain  came  up  for  con 
sideration.  By  a  strange  irony  of  fortune  the 
most  important  correspondence  conducted  by  the 
foreign  office  during  Buchanan's  administration 
had  to  do  with  the  right  of  search  and  with  the 
irritating  claims  put  forth  by  Great  Britain  of  a 
right  to  examine  our  vessels  to  determine  whether 
they  were  slavers.  In  the  celebrated  controversy 
between  Mr.  Webster  and  Mr.  Cass  in  1842-43, 
the  latter  had  contended  that  our  government 
should  have  stipulated  or  at  least  vigorously  as 
serted  that  such  aggressions  were  illegal  and  must 
be  stopped.  In  the  letters  with  which  he  so  ut 
terly  "demolished"  the  petulant  ex-minister,  Mr. 
Webster  declared  that  such  a  stipulation  was  need 
less.  Now  the  question  arose  anew  under  more 
unfortunate  circumstances. 


330  LEWIS  CASS 

It  could  not  be  denied  that  during  the  years  of 
Buchanan's  administration  the  South  was  hungry 
for  more  slaves.  Its  woeful  defeat  in  the  Territo 
ries,  and  its  continual  failure  to  hold  its  own  in 
wealth  and  population  in  comparison  with  the 
North,  directed  its  eyes  to  the  only  means  of  com 
petition,  the  increase  of  the  dead  weight  of  the 
laboring  population.  In  many  portions  of  the 
South  the  reopening  of  the  slave  trade  was  pub 
licly  advocated.  Governor  Adams  of  South  Caro 
lina,  in  1857,  denounced  the  laws  which  forbade 
the  traffic.  During  the  succeeding  year  the  same 
yearnings  were  exhibited  by  remarks  in  conven 
tions  and  by  paragraphs  in  the  Southern  papers. 
The  genial  soil  of  Florida  received  many  new  car 
goes  of  inhabitants,  and  the  vessels  of  the  com 
mercial  North  lent  their  aid  to  the  infamous  trade. 
But  English  cruisers,  altogether  too  zealous  in 
hatred  of  the  nefarious  commerce,  appeared  off 
the  coast  of  Cuba  and  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  with 
orders  to  search  merchantmen  suspected  of  carry 
ing  slaves.  However  laudable  the  object,  its  ex 
ecution  was  exasperating  as  well  as  absolutely  un 
justifiable.  In  the  spring  of  1858  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  neighboring  waters  frequented  by 
American  merchantmen  were  patroled  by  a  police 
force  of  British  cruisers  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
incense  all  sections  of  the  country  and  the  mem 
bers  of  all  political  parties.  American  vessels 
were  searched,  or  "visited,"  as  the  English  would 
eay  in  more  polite  parlance,  with  an  insolence 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  331 

which  awakened  the  animosity  of  the  very  haters 
of  slavery. 

In  April,  1858,  in  response  to  a  call  from  the 
Senate  for  information  concerning  the  slave  trade, 
the  secretaries  of  state  and  of  the  navy  furnished 
dispatches  and  correspondence.  Although  our  gov 
ernment  professed  becoming  zeal  in  the  matter,  it 
was  evident  that  the  efforts  of  the  British  and  the 
American  cruisers  on  the  coast  of  Africa  were  not 
efficacious.  The  slave  trade  was  flourishing.  In 
May  the  President  responded  to  another  call  from 
the  Senate  for  information  about  search  or  seizure 
in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  correspondence  sent 
in  by  Secretary  Cass  showed  atrocious  interfer 
ence  with  our  commerce  by  English  cruisers ;  some 
of  our  vessels  were  fired  upon,  and  a  number 
searched  after  the  insulting  fashion  which  marked 
so  much  of  our  treatment  from  England  before 
1861.  Warlike  speeches  followed  in  Congress. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Cass,  war  vessels  were  sent 
into  Southern  waters,  while  he  prepared  to  contest 
the  case  with  the  English  government  in  diplo 
matic  dispatches. 

He  entered  gladly  into  the  controversy,  for  the 
circumstances  seemed  powerfully  to  vindicate  his 
arguments  in  his  correspondence  with  Webster. 
On  April  10  he  wrote  to  Lord  Napier  an  able  let 
ter.  He  denied  that  there  was  any  fundamental 
difference  between  "visit"  and  "search."  The 
right  to  examine  and  pass  upon  a  vessel's  national 
character  and  identity  he  denied.  "To  permit 


332  LEWIS  CASS 

a  foreign  officer  to  board  the  vessel  of  another 
power,  to  assume  command  in  her,  to  call  for  and 
examine  her  papers,  to  pass  judgment  upon  her 
character,  to  decide  the  broad  inquiry,  whether 
she  is  navigated  according  to  law,  and  to  send  her 
in  at  pleasure  for  trial,  cannot  be  submitted  to  by 
any  independent  nation  without  dishonor."1  He 
announced  the  principle,  which  makes  perfectly 
clear  and  reasonable  the  distinction  for  which  he 
had  always  contended  between  searching  a  real 
and  a  spurious  American  vessel.  It  had  been 
argued  that  if  American  vessels  could  not  be  vis 
ited  and  investigated,  any  foreign  ship,  even  one 
belonging  to  a  nation  which  had  a  treaty  with 
England  allowing  search  for  the  prevention  of  the 
slave  trade,  might  carry  on  such  trade  with  impu 
nity  by  merely  hoisting  the  American  flag.  In 
the  following  words  the  secretary  cleared  the  sub 
ject  of  its  fog:  "A  merchant  vessel  upon  the  high 
seas  is  protected  by  her  national  character.  He 
who  forcibly  enters  her  does  so  upon  his  own  re 
sponsibility.  Undoubtedly,  if  a  vessel  assume  a 
national  character  to  which  she  is  not  entitled, 
and  is  sailing  under  false  colors,  she  cannot  be 
protected  by  the  assumption  of  a  nationality  to 
which  she  has  no  claim.  As  the  identity  of  a 
person  must  be  determined  by  the  officer  bearing 
a  process  for  his  arrest,  and  determined  at  the 
risk  of  such  officer,  so  must  the  national  identity 
of  a  vessel  be  determined,  at  the  like  hazard  to 
1  Senate  Documents,  vol.  xii.,  1857-58. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  333 

him,  who,  doubting  the  flag  she  displays,  searches 
her  to  ascertain  her  true  character.  There  no 
doubt  may  be  circumstances  which  may  go  far  to 
modify  the  complaints  a  nation  would  have  a  right 
to  make  for  such  a  violation  of  its  sovereignty. 
If  the  boarding  officer  had  just  grounds  for  suspi 
cion,  and  deported  himself  with  propriety  in  the 
performance  of  his  task,  doing  no  injury,  and 
peaceably  retiring  when  satisfied  of  his  error,  no 
nation  would  make  such  an  act  the  subject  of 
serious  reclamation."  This  was  much  the  same 
as  the  logic  of  his  pamphlet  issued  in  1842,  and 
which  had  been  so  unjustly  condemned  as  "incon 
clusive."  In  fact  it  was  sound,  conclusive,  and 
unanswerable.  From  the  early  years  of  his  gov 
ernorship  Cass  had  pondered  this  subject,  and  he 
was  now  prepared  to  write  the  exhaustive  dispatch 
which  contained  the  thought  of  years  in  its  irrefu 
table  arguments.  His  quotations  from  English 
authorities  were  so  appropriate  and  his  reasoning 
so  true  that  the  English  government  had  perforce 
to  abandon  a  claim  which  had  been  a  source  of 
vexation  and  annoyance  since  the  definitive  treaty 
of  1783.  Various  communications  passed  between 
the  two  countries  after  the  writing  of  this  impor 
tant  dispatch  of  April  10.  Cass  insisted  that 
search  and  visitation  must  cease.  On  June  8, 
1858,  G.  M.  Dallas,  our  minister  to  the  court  of 
St.  James,  wrote  to  our  foreign  office  the  summary 
of  one  of  the  most  important  interviews  in  the 
diplomatic  history  of  the  United  States. 


334  LEWIS  CASS 

Beginning  his  letter  somewhat  disconsolately, 
Mr.  Dallas  continued:  "I  had  written  thus  far 
when  I  was  obliged  to  hurry  off  and  keep  an  en 
gagement  to  meet  Lord  Malmesbury  at  his  resi 
dence  in  Whitehall  Gardens  at  twelve  o'clock, 
and  I  returned  after  an  hour's  interview  with  a 
result  little  expected  when  I  went. 

"Something  within  the  last  twelve  hours  had 
shifted  his  lordship's  mind  to  an  opposite  point 
of  the  compass.  He  talked  a  great  deal  and  I 
listened.  He  was  anxious  to  fix  as  precisely  as 
possible  what  the  American  government  wanted 
on  the  right  of  search,  and  I  said,  in  as  gentle 
a  manner  as  could  be  distinct :  4  Discontinuance, 
nothing  more,  nothing  less;  that,  at  all  events, 
was  my  present  aim.  General  Cass  had  the  broad 
subject  between  himself  and  Lord  Napier,  and  I 
was  not  authorized  to  meddle  with  that.'  He  re 
curred  to  your  admirable  letter  of  the  10th  of 
April  last,  lying  before  him,  and  read  a  number 
of  passages.  He  expressed  his  entire  assent  with 
your  position  on  international  laws  on  the  illegal 
ity  of  visit  or  search  except  by  conventional  agree 
ment,  and  seemed  full  of  admiration  for  its  ability. 
...  In  fine,  we  came  to  an  understanding." 1 
A  minute  of  the  conference,  written  by  Lord 
Malmesbury  himself,  gave  proof  of  the  withdrawal 
of  Great  Britain  from  the  position  she  had  held 
so  long  and  so  provokingly.  "Her  Majesty's  gov 
ernment  recognizes  the  principle  of  international 
1  Senate  Docs.  2d  Sesa.  35th  Cong.,  vol.  i.  p.  34. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  335 

law  as  laid  down  by  General  Cass  in  his  note  of 
the  10th  of  April."1  In  his  annual  message  of 
December  6,  1858,  President  Buchanan  said:  "I 
am  gratified  to  inform  you  that  the  long-pending 
controversy  between  the  two  governments,  in  rela 
tion  to  the  question  of  visitation  and  search,  has 
been  amicably  adjusted."2  During  the  succeeding 
year,  correspondence  was  conducted  between  Sec 
retary  Cass  and  the  English  and  French  govern 
ments,  which  resulted  in  the  agreement  upon  cer 
tain  rules  and  instructions  to  seamen,  concerning 
the  right  of  visitation.  Singular  enough  does  it 
seem  to  see  the  government  of  Great  Britain  ex 
plicitly  telling  her  naval  officers  that  "no  mer 
chant  vessel  navigating  the  high  seas  is  subject  to 
any  foreign  jurisdiction.  A  vessel  of  war  cannot, 
therefore,  visit,  detain,  or  seize  (except  under  the 
treaty)  any  merchant  vessel  not  recognized  as  be 
longing  to  her  own  nation."3  The  commanders 
of  her  ships  of  war  were  instructed  to  treat  vessels 
bearing  a  foreign  flag  with  the  utmost  deference ; 
only  under  cases  of  the  strongest  suspicion  might 
they  stop  a  ship  and  examine  her  papers  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  her  real  character,  and 
then  for  such  conduct  an  officer  must  consider 
himself  as  possibly  responsible  for  damages,  inas 
much  as  any  unjustifiable  inquiry  would  be  basis 

1  Senate  Docs.  2d  Sess.  35th  Cong-.,  vol.  i.  p.  35.     See  also,  pp, 
36-39,  ibid. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  12. 

3  Senate  Docs.  1st  Sess.  36th  Cong.,  p.  78.     The  italics  are  my 


336  LEWIS  CASS 

for  a  claim  for  indemnity.1  Our  government  sent 
substantially  similar  instructions  to  the  command 
ers  of  our  African  fleet.  Because  of  other  excit 
ing  topics,  the  greatness  of  this  diplomatic  victory 
attracted  comparatively  little  attention.  Yet  it 
was  one  of  the  most  just  and  most  brilliant  tri 
umphs  of  which  to  this  day  our  diplomacy  can 
boast.  The  withdrawal  of  England's  claims  to 
extra-territorial  jurisdiction  has  never  been  asso 
ciated  as  it  should  be  with  the  name  and  fame  of 
Cass,  who  pushed  his  argument  so  strongly  and 
clinched  it  so  effectively.  Unfortunately  for  him 
his  distinguished  success  in  this  business  was 
thrown  into  obscurity  by  the  lowering  clouds  of 
secession  and  rebellion,  portentous  of  the  awful 
catastrophe  of  1861. 

Serious  difficulties  with  Mexico  during  Presi 
dent  Buchanan's  administration  also  called  forth 
many  dispatches  from  our  foreign  office,  which 
are  full  of  dignified  American  feeling  and  replete 
with  pithy  maxims  of  sound  international  law. 
The  governments  of  Mexico  were  at  this  time  turn 
ing  on  their  axes  in  a  series  of  well-executed  revo 
lutions,  performed  with  such  rapidity  that  our 
government  scarcely  knew  in  whom  to  recognize 
the  legitimate  authority.  General  Cass's  message 
to  Mr.  McLane,  minister  resident  to  that  country, 
contains  an  application  of  the  Monroe  doctrine 
very  succinctly  worded :  "  While  we  do  not  deny 
the  right  of  any  other  power  to  carry  on  hostile 

1  Senate  Docs.  1st  Sess.  36th  Cong-.,  p.  78. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  337 

operations  against  Mexico,  for  the  redress  of  its 
grievances,  we  firmly  object  to  its  holding  posses 
sion  of  any  part  of  that  country,  or  endeavoring 
by  force  to  control  its  political  destiny."  Had 
it  been  possible  for  our  government  to  adhere  to 
this  policy,  the  interference  of  the  French  and 
the  unhappy  fate  of  Maximilian  might  have  been 
averted. 

The  best  known  and  not  the  least  important  of 
Cass's  dispatches  and  instructions  is  one  sent  by 
him  to  our  various  representatives  in  Europe, 
June  27,  1859,  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Italian  war. 
It  outlined  the  neutral  character  and  policy  of  the 
United  States,  and  defined  our  position  on  the 
subject  of  commercial  blockades  in  such  judicious 
terms  that  his  words  have  since  been  frequently 
quoted  by  writers  on  the  law  of  nations.  But 
general  rules  in  such  a  matter  are  dangerous. 
Only  two  years  before  the  Rebellion,  when  our 
government  established  the  most  extensive  com 
mercial  blockade  ever  made  effective  and  legiti 
mate  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  that  too 
under  circumstances  which  go  far  to  shake  any 
a  priori  arguments  concerning  the  right  of  such 
action,  our  secretary  of  state  entered  into  a  long 
and  learned  disquisition,  asserting  the  injustice  of 
any  but  very  limited,  definite,  and  effectual  re 
strictions  upon  commercial  intercourse.  This  same 
dispatch  contained  a  summary  of  the  attitude  of 
the  United  States  toward  the  treaty  of  Paris  and 
the  rights  of  neutrals. 


338  LEWIS   CASS 

While  engaged  in  the  congenial  work  of  diplo 
macy  Cass  could  not  lose  sight  of  the  disturbed 
condition  of  the  country  in  internal  politics.  The 
growth  of  the  Republican  party,  protesting  against 
the  Dred  Scott  case  and  the  injustice  to  Kansas, 
seemed  so  perilous  to  the  South  during  the  later 
years  of  Buchanan's  administration,  that  threats  of 
secession  in  case  of  its  final  success  were  made  with 
frankness.  Cass,  more  than  many  of  the  promi 
nent  men  of  the  time,  saw  and  felt  the  impending 
danger.  The  violence  of  political  feeling,  the  viru 
lence  of  party  action,  the  antipathy  to  slavery,  and 
the  hatred  of  Southern  bravado,  which  no  State 
exhibited  better  than  his  own,  affected  the  old 
statesman  with  misgivings,  and  filled  the  last  days 
of  his  active  life  with  acute  grief  and  foreboding. 

Singularly  simple  in  its  real  meaning,  the  cam 
paign  of  1860  seems,  at  first  sight,  unusually  in 
tricate  and  complex.  The  Democratic  party  was 
split  into  two  factions.  The  first  was  composed 
of  those  who  were  unwilling  to  give  themselves 
up  entirely  to  Southern  dictation,  or  to  turn  their 
backs  on  the  doctrine  of  "squatter  sovereignty," 
which  had  carried  them  through  the  last  two  elec 
tions  ;  they  clung  to  old  principles,  though  profess 
ing  a  willingness  to  abide  by  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  They  nominated  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  for  president  and  Herschel  V.  Johnson 
of  Georgia  for  vice-president.  The  Southern  wing 
of  the  Democracy,  with  those  Northern  men  who 
were  willing  to  accept  the  Dred  Scott  case  and  to 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  339 

see  in  it  a  final  decision  establishing  the  legality 
of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  nominated  John  C. 
Breckinridge  of  Kentucky  and  Joseph  Lane  of 
Oregon.  A  third  ticket  was  presented  by  a  party 
styling  itself  the  Constitutional  Union  party,  a 
mere  reminiscence  of  the  days  when  words  were 
called  upon  to  fill  political  chasms  and  to  conceal 
facts.  The  nominees  of  this  party  were  John  Bell 
of  Tennessee  and  Edward  Everett  of  Massachu 
setts.  It  stood  for  union  under  the  laws  and  the 
Constitution,  which  could  mean  nothing  when  the 
question  was,  "What  are  the  laws  and  the  Consti 
tution?"  The  Kepublican  party,  meeting  in  con 
vention  at  Chicago,  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln 
of  Illinois  and  Hannibal  Hamlin  of  Maine.  Theirs 
was  a  Northern  platform,  denouncing  the  spread 
of  slavery  and  denying  the  power  of  Congress  or 
of  any  territorial  legislature  to  legalize  slavery  in 
the  Territories.  The  popular  tactics  of  the  man 
agers  of  the  party,  and  their  shrewdness  in  appeal 
ing  to  the  enthusiasm  as  well  as  the  moral  motives 
of  the  people,  insured  success  against  the  quarrel 
ing  factions  of  the  enemy.  The  old  Northwest 
was  faithful  to  its  party  and  its  principle,  even 
Illinois  giving  Lincoln  a  clear  majority  over  all  of 
nearly  5000,  while  Michigan  gave  over  20,000, 
and  Ohio  a  plurality  of  nearly  45,000.  The  North 
was  solid,  with  the  exception  of  New  Jersey,  which 
was  divided.  Lincoln  was  elected  by  a  popular 
plurality  of  491,654,  and  by  a  decided  electoral 
majority. 


340  LEWIS  CASS 

The  Republican  victory  furnished  excuse  for 
putting  into  active  operation  the  plots  for  seces 
sion  which  had  been  long  contemplated  by  the 
advanced  conspirators  of  the  South.  On  Novem 
ber  10  a  bill  to  raise  and  equip  10,000  volunteers 
was  introduced  into  the  legislature  of  South  Caro 
lina,  and  her  senators  resigned  their  seats  in  Con 
gress.  The  Gulf  States  fell  into  line  with  some 
hesitation,  while  the  border  States  held  back,  de 
ploring  the  hasty  action  of  the  more  slave-cursed 
States  of  the  South.  The  cabinet,  of  which  Gen 
eral  Cass  was  a  member,  was  the  centre  if  not  the 
source  of  the  conspiracy.  From  it  flowed  sugges 
tion  and  inspiration  for  the  active  agitators  in  the 
South;  into  it  percolated  all  the  sly  schemes  and 
wily  devices  of  the  crafty  leaders  of  the  Rebellion. 
Floyd,  the  secretary  of  war,  Thompson,  the  secre 
tary  of  the  interior,  Cobb,  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  were  engaged  in  correspondence  with 
the  enemies  of  the  Union,  furnishing  them  with 
munitions  of  war,  treasonably  using  their  author 
ity  and  the  resources  of  the  nation,  filling  the 
vacillating  mind  of  the  wavering  President  with 
gloomy  fears  and  excuses  for  delay.  Buchanan, 
lacking  the  courage  to  follow  out  any  distinct  line 
of  policy,  contented  himself  with  argument  and 
appeal.  The  assistant  secretary  of  state  was  an 
active  conspirator  for  secession,  even  before  the 
election. 

Cass  himself  held  a  fair  and  consistent  position. 
Lamenting  the  threatened  disruption  of  the  Union, 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  341 

he  was  not  ready  to  yield  every  point  for  the  sake 
of  avoiding  trouble.  "At  a  cabinet  meeting,  held 
November  9,  General  Cass  spoke  with  much  ear 
nestness  and  feeling  about  the  impending  crisis, 
admitted  fully  all  the  great  wrongs  and  outrages 
which  had  been  committed  against  the  South  by 
Northern  fanaticism,  and  deplored  it.  But  he  was 
emphatic  in  his  condemnation  of  the  doctrine  of 
secession  by  any  State  from  the  Union.  He 
doubted  the  efficacy  of  the  appeal  for  a  convention, 
but  seemed  to  think  it  might  be  well  enough  to  try 
it.  He  spoke  warmly  in  favor  of  using  force  to 
coerce  a  State  that  attempted  to  secede."  This  is 
the  testimony  of  Secretary  Floyd  himself.  Though 
it  is  doubtful  if  Cass  ever  emphatically  acknow 
ledged  the  right  to  coerce  a  State  as  such,  his 
opinions  were  substantially  those  here  attributed 
to  him.  He  was  decidedly  for  the  Union.  The 
conspiracy  widened  and  deepened.  The  secretary 
of  war,  openly  disowning  secession,  covertly  gave 
secret  information  to  the  foes  of  the  government, 
who  knew  before  it  was  transmitted  to  Congress 
what  would  be  the  position  of  the  President  in  his 
message  to  Congress  in  December. 

General  Cass  seems,  at  least  at  first,  to  have 
acquiesced  in  the  general  tenor  of  the  President's 
message,  so  far  as  the  theoretical  relation  between 
the  national  government  and  the  States  was  con 
cerned.  Secretary  Floyd  tells  us  that  when  portions 
of  it  were  first  read  to  the  cabinet  for  approval 
Cass  heartily  commended  it ;  for  it  then  inculcated, 


342  LEWIS  CASS 

it  seems,  submission  to  Lincoln's  election,  and 
perhaps  even  intimated  the  use  of  force  to  compel 
such  submission.  The  document,  when  finished, 
presented  a  combination  of  power  and  weakness 
in  the  central  government  which  were  conditions 
of  complete  inertia.  After  charging  the  present 
unpleasantness  upon  the  sectional  antipathy  of  the 
North,  the  message  gave  a  detailed  argument  on 
the  subject  of  secession  and  the  powers  of  the  na 
tional  government  —  secession  is  illegal,  the  union 
is  by  nature  indissoluble,  but  there  is  no  power  in 
Congress  or  in  any  branch  of  the  federal  govern 
ment  to  compel  a  State  to  remain  in  the  Union ; 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  President  to  enforce  the  laws; 
but,  if  it  is  impracticable  to  do  so  by  the  ordinary 
methods,  as  at  present  in  South  Carolina,  Con 
gress  should  determine  whether  or  not  existing 
laws  should  be  amended  to  carry  out  effectually 
the  objects  of  the  Constitution;  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  are  advisable.  The  last  proposi 
tion  was  absurd.  The  amendments  suggested  would 
have  granted  all  the  South  had  contended  for,  and 
would  have  nullified  the  voice  of  the  people  as 
expressed  in  the  last  election. 

The  subtle  principles  of  law  propounded  by  the 
President  were  too  finely  spun  to  be  readily  ac 
cepted  by  the  practical  people  of  the  North.  That 
immaterial  entity,  the  State,  may  be  incapable 
of  coercion,  may  not  be  within  reach  of  the  iron 
hand  of  the  law;  the  federal  government  under 
the  Constitution  may  not  have  been  expressly 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  343 

given  power  to  wage  war  upon  a  recalcitrant  State; 
one  of  the  great  instruments  of  that  great  sover 
eignty,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  may 
refuse  to  perform  its  functions;  but  the  federal 
authority  comes  into  contact  with  individuals,  and 
they  can  be  held  to  their  allegiance;  the  property 
of  the  federal  state  can  and  must  be  protected, 
and  its  laws  must  act  and  its  writs  must  run 
within  the  borders  of  every  State;  war  upon  States 
is  unnecessary,  for  an  indestructible  State,  though 
refusing  to  perform  its  functions,  can  never  cease 
to  be  a  member  of  an  indestructible  Union.  Such 
sound,  practical  sense  soon  found  its  place  in  the 
minds  of  the  sobered  people  of  the  North,  although 
not  for  months  were  they  fully  aroused  to  fight 
for  its  logical  conclusions  and  assert  in  arms  that 
the  nation  was  an  organic  whole.  But  argument 
was  unnecessary  and  entirely  beside  the  mark ;  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  executive  to  enforce  the  laws. 
Even  Buchanan  admitted  that  the  central  govern 
ment  operated  directly  on  persons.  There  was, 
as  yet,  no  practical  instance  of  secession,  and  if 
the  President  had  held  firmly  in  his  hands  the 
reins  of  government,  quickly  dismissed  the  con 
spiring  secessionists  from  his  cabinet,  used  his 
power  as  the  executive  and  commander-in -chief  to 
protect  the  property  and  enforce  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that 
secession  would  have  meant  less  in  our  history. 

Though  apparently  agreeing  with  the  argument 
of  the  message,  and  believing  that  a  State  could 


344  LEWIS  CASS 

not  be  coerced,  Cass  was  not  willing  to  admit  that 
the  federal  government  was  impotent.1  At  vari 
ous  cabinet  meetings  he  insisted  that  the  forts  in 
Charleston  harbor  should  be  reinforced,  and  that, 
in  view  of  the  well-known  conspiracy  to  disobey 
the  laws,  steps  should  be  taken  to  strengthen  the 
hand  of  the  government  in  the  Southern  States. 
On  December  13  he  made  a  last  effort  to  convince 
the  President  of  the  necessity  of  such  action,  but 
he  was  rebuffed.  "These  forts/'  he  said,  "must 
be  strengthened.  I  demand  it."  "I  am  sorry  to 
differ  from  the  secretary  of  state,"  the  President 
replied.  "I  have  made  up  my  mind.  The  inter 
ests  of  the  country  do  not  demand  a  reinforcement 
of  the  forces  in  Charleston.  I  cannot  do  it,  and 
I  take  the  responsibility  on  myself."  The  next 
day2  General  Cass  handed  in  his  resignation  as 

1  "  Not  recognizing  any  right  in  a  State  to  secede  except  as  a 
revolutionary   measure,  General   Cass   would   have   resisted   the 
attempt  at  the  commencement,  and,  as  the  sworn  officer  of  the 
United  States,  he  would  have  done  his  utmost  to  preserve  its  in 
tegrity.     '  I  speak  to  Cable,'  he  would  say,  '  and  he  tells  me  he  is 
a  Georgian  ;  to  Floyd,  and  he  tells  me  he  is  a  Virginian  ;  to  you, 
and  you  tell  me  you  are  a  Carolinian.     I  am  not  a  Michigander : 
I  am  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.     The  laws  of  the  United 
States  bind  you,  as  they  bind  me,  individually ;  if  you,  the  citi 
zens  of  Georgia,  or  Virginia,  or  Carolina,  refuse  obedience  to  them, 
it  is  my  sworn  duty  to  enforce  them.'  "     Crawford,  The  Genesis  of 
the  Civil  War,  p.  23. 

2  The   resignation   was   dated   December  12,  and  Buchanan's 
reply  three  days  later.     A  memorandum  made  by  the  President 
and  printed  in  Curtis's  Life  of  Buchanan  is  dated  December  15, 
and  refers  to  the   resignations   being   handed   in   that   evening. 
But  it  is  apparent  that  this  memorandum  was  written  some  days 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  345 

secretary  of  state.  Mr.  Cobb  had  already  re 
signed  the  treasury  portfolio  because  of  what  he 
considered  the  "paramount"  claims  of  his  State. 
The  resignation  of  the  secretary  of  state,  added 
to  the  prevailing  excitement,  was  almost  univer 
sally  commended  by  the  papers  of  the  North  that 
were  not  indissolubly  wedded  to  the  inactive  policy 
of  the  administration.  His  house  was  filled  for 
the  next  few  days  with  congratulating  friends,  and 
Zachariah  Chandler  called  to  welcome  him  into 
the  fold  of  the  Republican  party.  The  old  states 
man  was  still  consistent,  however ;  he  was  a  Demo 
crat,  but  a  Jackson  Democrat. 

The  letter  of  resignation  is  worth  reading,  inas 
much  as  it  gives  in  short  form  the  position  which 
Cass  held.  The  important  clauses  are  as  follows :  — 

"  It  has  been  my  decided  opinion,  which  for  some  time 
past  I  have  urged  at  various  meetings  of  the  cabinet, 
that  additional  troops  should  be  sent  to  reenforce  the 
forts  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  with  a  view  to  their 
better  defense,  should  they  be  attacked,  and  that  an 

after  the  day  on  which  it  was  dated.  Dispatches  sent  to  the 
newspapers  seem  to  make  it  clear  that  Cass  sent  in  his  resignation 
on  the  fourteenth.  The  following1  is  from  a  dispatch  to  the  JV. 
Y.  Advertiser,  dated  Washington,  Dec.  15.  "  During-  this  morn 
ing  and  yesterday  afternoon  further  developments  have  been 
made  respecting  the  causes  of  disagreement,  between  the  Presi 
dent  and  the  secretary  of  state,  which  led  to  the  resignation  of 
the  latter."  A  similar  dispatch  to  the  Herald  dated  the  four 
teenth,  speaks  of  the  rumor  that  Cass  had  resigned  and  says  that 
on  the  afternoon  of  that  day  "  the  report  was  fully  confirmed." 
Other  like  evidence  could  be  cited  to  support  the  statement  in 
the  text.  The  usual  statement  is  that  Cass  resigned  the  fifteenth. 


346  LEWIS  CASS 

armed  vessel  should  likewise  be  ordered  there  to  aid  if 
necessary  in  the  defense,  and  also,  should  it  be  required, 
in  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  and  it  is  yet  my  opinion 
that  these  measures  should  be  adopted  without  the  least 
delay.  I  have  likewise  urged  the  expediency  of  immedi 
ately  removing  the  custom-house  at  Charleston  to  one  of 
the  forts  in  the  port,  and  of  making  arrangements  for  the 
collection  of  the  duties  there  by  having  a  collector  and 
other  officers  ready  to  act  when  necessary,  so  that  when 
the  office  may  become  vacant  the  proper  authority  may 
be  there  to  collect  the  duties  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States. 

"  I  continue  to  think  that  these  arrangements  should 
be  immediately  made.  While  the  right  and  the  responsi 
bility  of  deciding  belong  to  you,  it  is  very  desirable  that 
at  this  perilous  juncture  there  should  be  as  far  as  possi 
ble  unanimity  in  your  councils  with  a  view  to  safe  and 
efficient  action.  I  have,  therefore,  felt  it  my  duty  to 
tender  you  my  resignation  of  the  office  of  secretary  of 
state  and  to  ask  your  permission  to  retire  from  that 
official  association  with  yourself  and  the  members  of 
your  cabinet  which  I  have  enjoyed  during  almost  four 
years  without  the  occurrence  of  a  single  incident  to 
interrupt  the  personal  intercourse  which  has  so  happily 
existed." 

The  action  of  General  Cass  has  been  criticised 
by  Buchanan's  apologists  who,  now  that  the  whole 
conspiracy  is  as  clear  as  noonday,  still  claim  that 
it  was  not  the  President's  duty  to  act  until  some 
thing  was  done,  and  until  Congress  gave  further 
power.  That  the  Southern  forts  were  in  danger 
there  could  be  no  doubt;  Buchanan's  message 


SECESSION  347 

confessed  that  South  Carolina  was  on  the  point  of 
lawless  disregard  of  the  behests  of  the  central 
government;  conventions  to  consider  secession  had 
been  called  throughout  the  Southern  States;  the 
cabinet  itself  was  in  conspiracy  against  the  govern 
ment;  the  very  air  was  heavy  with  threats  of 
secession  and  violence.  Mr.  Buchanan's  most 
learned  and  famous  apologist  has  sneered  at  the 
prophetic  sagacity  of  Cass.  Not  clairvoyance  or 
the  spirit  of  prophecy,  but  decision,  observation, 
and  common  sense  were  the  attributes  of  one  who 
saw,  not  what  might  be,  but  what  was. 

December  20  Washington  was  electrified  by  the 
announcement  that  South  Carolina  had  at  last 
adopted  an  ordinance  of  secession.  Mr.  Benson 
J.  Lossing,  the  skillful  writer  of  American  his 
tory,  was  at  the  house  of  Cass  when  a  bulletin 
telling  of  this  action  was  received.  "The  vener 
able  statesman  read  the  few  words  that  announced 
the  startling  fact,  and  then,  throwing  up  his  hands, 
while  tears  started  from  his  eyes,  he  exclaimed 
with  uncommon  unction :  '  Can  it  be !  can  it  be ! 
Oh,'  he  said,  4 1  had  hoped  to  retire  from  the 
public  service,  and  go  home  to  die  with  the  happy 
thought,  that  I  should  leave  to  my  children,  as  an 
inheritance  from  patriotic  men,  a  united  and  pros 
perous  republic.  But  it  is  all  over !  This  is  but 
the  beginning  of  the  end.  The  people  in  the 
South  are  mad ;  the  people  in  the  North  are  asleep. 
The  President  is  pale  with  fear,  for  his  official 
household  is  full  of  traitors,  and  conspirators  con- 


348  LEWIS  CASS 

trol  the  government.  God  only  knows  what  is 
to  be  the  fate  of  my  poor  country !  to  Him  alone 
must  we  look  in  this  hour  of  thick  darkness.'"1 
It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  he  advocated  that 
action  be  superadded  to  faith  and  devotion. 

One  other  topic  remains  to  be  considered  in 
connection  with  Cass's  resignation  from  the  cabi 
net.  The  letter,  dated  December  12,  assigned  as 
a  reason  the  President's  refusal  to  reinforce  the 
Charleston  forts,  and  his  neglect  to  prepare  for 
the  collection  of  duties  at  that  port.  President 
Buchanan  in  accepting  the  resignation,  without 
deigning  to  argue  the  question,  stated  his  belief 
that  reinforcements  at  Charleston  were  unneces 
sary,  and  expressed  his  regret  that  anything  should 
occur  to  disturb  the  official  relations  existing  be 
tween  him  and  his  secretary.  From  memoranda 
printed  in  the  "Life  of  James  Buchanan,"2  it  ap 
pears  that  Cass  announced  his  purpose  to  resign 
as  early  as  the  llth.  Newspapers  of  the  time 
make  it  evident  that  nearly  a  week  before  the 
letter  was  handed  in  rumors  of  Cass's  resignation 
were  rife.  His  withdrawal  was  received  with 
marked  gratification  by  many,  even  of  those  who 
had  not  become  converts  to  "black  Republican 
ism."  In  spite  of  these  facts,  Buchanan  records 
that,  on  December  17,  Black  and  Thompson  both 
informed  him  that  Cass  desired  to  withdraw  his 
resignation.  It  is  always  hard  to  prove  a  nega- 

1  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War,  Lossing,  vol.  i.  p.  141. 

2  By  George  Ticknor  Curtis. 


SECESSION  349 

tive,  but  direct  and  circumstantial  evidence  con 
tradicts  this  statement.  In  the  first  place,  mem 
bers  of  his  family  who  were  with  him  at  the  time, 
and  were  well  aware  of  his  thoughts  and  feel 
ings,  positively  deny  the  truth  of  such  assertions. 
This  alone  might  be  sufficient.  But,  moreover, 
the  resignation,  as  already  suggested,  was  not 
unpremeditated;  all  the  world  knew  of  his  em 
phatic  disapproval  of  the  President's  negligence 
and  timidity,  and  he  found  himself  lionized  and 
applauded  by  nearly  all  save  the  avowed  secession 
ists.  Even  the  "Charleston  Mercury"  hastened 
to  add  its  modicum  of  praise  by  styling  him  a 
"hoary  trickster  and  humbug,"  and  comparing 
"his  present  imbecility"  with  his  "past  treachery 
to  the  South."  "The  past  secretary  will  survive," 
remarked  the  "New  York  Times,"  with  laconic 
sarcasm,  as  it  quoted  these  expressions  of  Southern 
rage.  That  under  such  circumstances  he  should 
contemplate  the  backward  step  of  seeking  rein 
statement  is  simply  incredible  and  ridiculous. 

"Oh,  for  an  hour  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  sighed 
the  "Springfield  Republican."  That  was  what 
was  wanted.  With  Jackson  in  the  White  House 
and  Cass  as  secretary  of  war  the  rebel  armies 
would  not  have  been  equipped  with  governmental 
arms  and  accoutrements.  The  fire  and  vigor  of 
"Old  Hickory"  had  given  to  Cass  his  first  great 
inspiration  in  national  politics.  All  he  could  do 
now  was  to  administer  a  silent  rebuke  to  timidity 
where  hesitation  and  cowardice  were  crimes. 


350  LEWIS  CASS 

"Ain't  it  too  bad,"  said  a  prominent  senator, 
"that  a  man  has  to  break  his  sword  twice  in  a 
lifetime,  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end  of  his 
eventful  career.  At  the  surrender  of  Hull  at 
Detroit,  Cass  was  so  disgusted  at  the  conduct  of 
his  commander,  and  at  not  having  a  fight,  that 
he  broke  his  sword.  Now  he  breaks  it  because 
his  chief  won't  fight."1 

The  events  rapidly  following  upon  one  another 
through  the  dreadful  winter  of  1860-61  do  not 
form  part  of  our  story.  The  treachery  of  the 
cabinet,  the  lethargy  of  the  executive,  the  confu 
sion  and  dismay,  the  low-hanging  clouds  of  war 
and  distress,  the  frenzy  of  the  insane  South  and 
its  boastful  preparations  for  a  grand  confederacy 
on  the  cornerstone  of  slavery,  left  their  sorrowful 
shadows  upon  the  Union-loving  people  of  the  North 
and  filled  with  gloomy  forebodings  the  mind  of 
the  old  statesman  whose  life  had  been  given  to 
his  country.  When  the  bombardment  of  Sumter 
thrilled  the  continent  and  fired  the  popular  heart, 
Cass  was  ready  with  his  word  of  encouragement. 
At  an  immense  Union  meeting  in  Detroit,  April 
24,  he  was  made  chairman  and  delivered  in  a  few 
words  an  eloquent  address.  Cheer  followed  cheer, 
as  the  old  general,  with  dramatic  effect,  thanked 
God  that  the  American  flag  still  floated  over  his 
home  and  his  friends.  "No  American  can  see  its 
folds  spread  out  to  the  breeze  without  feeling  a 

1  Quoted  in  Life  and  Public  Services  of  Andrew  Johnson,  by 
John  Savage. 


THE  LAST  YEARS  351 

thrill  of  pride  at  his  heart,  and  without  recalling 
the  splendid  deeds  it  has  witnessed.  .  .  .  You 
need  no  one  to  tell  you  what  are  the  dangers  of 
your  country,  nor  what  are  your  duties  to  meet  and 
avert  them.  There  is  but  one  path  for  every  true 
man  to  travel,  and  that  is  broad  and  plain.  It 
will  conduct  us,  not  indeed  without  trials  and 
sufferings,  to  peace  and  to  the  restoration  of  the 
Union.  He  who  is  uotfor  his  country  is  against 
her.  There  is  no  neutral  position  to  be  occupied. 
It  is  the  duty  of  all  zealously  to  support  the  gov 
ernment  in  its  efforts  to  bring  this  unhappy  civil 
war  to  a  speedy  and  satisfactory  conclusion,  by 
the  restoration,  in  its  integrity,  of  that  great  char 
ter  of  freedom  bequeathed  to  us  by  Washington 
and  his  compatriots."  Sorrowing  over  his  coun 
try  torn  by  civil  war,  the  old  man  was  not  weak 
ened  by  age  into  imbecile  maunderings  about 
senseless  compromise;  by  word  and  example  he 
inspired  the  patriotic  hearts  of  his  fellow  citizens. 
If  he  was  occasionally  downcast,  his  desire  for 
union  never  faltered.  Referring  at  one  time  to 
the  bonfires  with  which  New  Hampshire  celebrated 
the  formation  of  the  Republic,  "I  have  loved  the 
Union,"  he  exclaimed,  "ever  since  the  light  of 
that  bonfire  greeted  my  eyes.  I  have  given  fifty- 
five  years  of  my  life  and  my  best  efforts  to  its 
preservation.  I  fear  I  am  doomed  to  see  it  per 
ish."  It  was  such  a  spirit  as  this  which  had  made 
him  the  advocate  of  compromise  and  consideration, 
and  which  now  made  him  zealous  for  force. 


352  LEWIS  CASS 

The  last  public  speech  of  General  Cass  was  de 
livered  at  Hillsdale,  Michigan,  August  13,  1862, 
at  a  "war  meeting"  called  for  the  purpose  of 
arousing  enthusiasm  and  raising  volunteers  for  the 
service.  The  address  was  short  and  impressive. 
He  spoke  for  some  twenty  minutes  earnestly  and 
from  the  heart.  He  began  with  a  truthful  refer 
ence  to  his  own  patriotism.  "I  am  sufficiently 
warned  by  the  advance  of  age  that  I  can  have  but 
little  participation  in  public  affairs,  but  if  time 
has  diminished  my  power  to  be  useful  to  my  coun 
try,  it  has  left  undiminished  the  deep  interest  I 
feel  in  her  destiny,  and  my  love  and  reverence  for 
our  glorious  Constitution  which  we  owe  to  the 
kindness  of  Providence  and  to  the  wisdom  of  our 
fathers."  The  whole  speech  breathes  forth  the 
broad  sympathy  and  love  of  Union  which  marked 
his  life.  Age,  which  is  proverbially  kind,  did  not 
bring  with  it  enervated  principles  and  the  senti 
mentality  of  moral  and  mental  languor.  He  re 
ferred  to  the  energy  of  his  own  State  and  praised 
the  exertions  it  was  making  for  the  general  wel 
fare.  He  had  visited  many  portions  of  it  before 
the  Indian  had  given  way  to  the  industry  and 
enterprise  of  the  white  man.  "I  have  lived  to 
see  it  rivaling  its  sister  States  in  the  sacred  work 
of  defending  the  Constitution.  And  now  the  course 
of  events  has  rendered  it  necessary  for  the  govern 
ment  to  appeal  again  to  the  people.  Additional 
troops  are  required  for  the  speedy  suppression 
of  the  Rebellion.  Patriotism  and  policy  equally 


THE  LAST  YEARS  353 

dictate  that  our  force  should  be  such  as  to  enable 
us  to  act  with  vigor  and  efficiency  against  our 
enemies,  and  promptly  to  reduce  them  to  uncondi 
tional  submission  to  the  laws."  Of  all  the  states 
men  of  his  generation,  Cass  has  been  understood 
the  least.  In  the  eyes  of  many,  he  still  appears 
as  a  "Northern  man  with  Southern  principles," 
a  "doughface,"  as  false  and  untrustworthy;  while 
Henry  Clay  and  Daniel  Webster,  whose  aims 
were  identical  with  his,  have  defenders  and  apolo 
gists  by  the  score ;  while  there  is  condonation  for 
the  rankest  acts  of  the  "Copperheads,"  who  ma 
ligned  and  vilified  and  hissed  at  home  while  our 
soldiers  were  fighting  in  the  field ;  while  men  who 
proved  false  to  their  oaths,  and  gave  their  energies 
to  the  destruction  of  their  country,  are  given  high 
offices  of  honor  and  of  public  trust. 

One  more  event  of  importance  intruded  itself 
into  the  sadly  quiet  life  of  the  old  statesman. 
Throughout  his  career  he  had  suspected  and  op 
posed  the  cunning  designs  of  England,  had  re 
sented  her  effrontery,  had  vindicated  our  rights 
against  her.  A  fitting  close  of  a  public  life,  which 
had  been  strangely  consistent  and  direct,  was  an 
act  of  justice  toward  England  in  following  out 
the  lines  of  comity  for  which  he  had  so  often  con 
tended.  In  the  latter  part  of  1861,  two  commis 
sioners  from  the  Confederacy,  intended  for  Eng 
land  and  France,  were  taken  on  board  the  English 
ship  Trent.  An  American  steamer,  the  San  Ja- 
cinto,  stopped  the  Trent  on  her  voyage,  took  from 


354  LEWIS   CASS 

her  the  Confederate  commissioners  and  proceeded 
with  them  to  Boston.  England  claimed  with  jus 
tice  that  this  was  a  direct  violation  of  her  sover 
eignty,  an  insult  for  which  immediate  atonement 
was  demanded.  Our  government  hesitated.  Eng 
land  did  not,  but  immediately  made  arrangements 
for  war  and  to  mobilize  her  forces ;  issued  a  pro 
clamation  to  prevent  the  exportation  of  arms  and 
ammunition;  ordered  her  minister  at  Washington 
to  withdraw  unless  the  prisoners  were  released 
and  our  government  offered  apology  within  a  few 
days.  Flaring  into  unbecoming  wrath,  she  lav 
ished,  it  is  said,  not  far  from  £5,000,000  in  pre 
paration  for  a  war  which,  in  spite  of  the  vexations 
of  this  whole  affair,  was  needless,  and  which  would 
not  have  been  nearly  so  imminent  had  not  her 
blustering  hardened  our  people  into  obstinacy. 
While  our  government  delayed,  the  people  were 
anxious  in  spite  of  their  dislike  of  England's 
haste.  General  Cass  was  besought  by  some  of 
the  influential  citizens  of  Detroit  to  throw  the 
weight  of  his  advice  into  the  scale,  with  the  pur 
pose  of  inducing  our  government  to  surrender  the 
commissioners  and  to  prevent  war.  He  was  per 
suaded,  and  wrote  a  long  telegraphic  dispatch 
covering  the  whole  ground,  and  bringing  to  bear 
his  learning  and  the  experience  of  fifty  years  in 
which  he  had  thought  over  and  discussed  the  ques 
tion  of  search  and  visitation.  The  cabinet  decided 
to  humble  itself,  that  it  might  be  exalted  on 
the  altar  of  law  and  honesty.  Seward  is  reported 


THE  LAST  YEARS  355 

afterwards  to  have  intimated  that  Cass's  dispatch 
was  of  determining  weight  in  the  cabinet  discus 
sions  on  the  question  of  surrender.  The  report 
seems  well  founded ;  but,  whether  it  was  thus  deter 
minant  or  not,  the  dispatch  is  a  graceful  end  of  a 
life  of  public  service  which  had  been  devoted  to 
America,  and  had  resented  encroachments  upon 
her  dignity. 

The  last  years  of  Cass  were  spent  quietly  at  his 
home  in  Detroit.  He  lived  to  see  the  Union  re 
stored,  and  the  black  curse  of  our  country  wiped 
out  by  the  war.  His  love  of  books  and  his  schol 
arly  tastes  helped  him  to  fill  his  last  days  with 
pleasurable  occupation.  His  many  friends,  whom 
he  had  assisted  and  to  whom  he  had  given  a  true 
affection  during  the  years  of  his  active  life,  did 
not  forsake  him  when  the  evil  days  of  sorrow  and 
weakness  came  upon  him.  Lifted  up  by  an  un 
faltering  trust,  he  patiently  and  cheerfully  awaited 
the  end.  He  was  sometimes  noticed  walking  the 
well-known  streets,  which  he  had  seen  develop 
from  the  narrow,  crooked  ways  of  the  rambling 
French  town  into  the  broad  avenues  of  a  modern 
city.  But  his  work  was  over;  he  had  reached 
advanced  age  before  his  retirement  from  public 
life,  and  all  that  was  left  him  was  the  sorrowful 
pleasure  of  peaceful  waiting.  He  died  June  17, 
1866,  in  the  eighty -fourth  year  of  his  age.  The 
reports  in  the  public  papers,  the  resolutions  of 
societies,  the  farewell  comments  of  friends,  be 
token  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  and  the 


356  LEWIS  CASS 

grief  at  his  death.  Members  of  the  bar,  who  had 
known  his  faithful  service  to  the  State,  spoke  in 
loving  admiration  of  his  life.  Many  men  in  the 
prime  of  life,  or  nearing  the  easy  descent  of  age, 
recalled  with  gratitude  the  encouragement  and  aid 
given  them  in  the  uncertain  days  of  their  young 
manhood.  There  was  no  one  to  cavil.  Even  his 
political  career,  ending  in  patriotic  devotion  to 
country  and  love  for  his  State  and  the  Union,  left 
little  room  for  fault-finding  to  those  who  remem 
bered  his  pure  private  life,  and  his  generous  friend 
ship  and  high-minded  regard  for  truth  and  fairness 
in  all  matters  of  daily  business  and  intercourse. 
The  Republican  paper  of  Detroit,  not  failing  in 
discrimination  while  discussing  the  events  of  his 
life,  showed  a  hearty  respect  for  the  patriot,  the 
citizen,  and  the  man.  Private  uprightness,  sin 
cerity,  and  rugged  stalwartness  of  character  con 
quered  partisan  acrimony  in  days  when  even  the 
bitterness  of  politics  seemed  sweeter  than  honey 
in  the  honeycomb. 

If  the  foregoing  sketch  is  at  all  adequate,  no 
elaborate  assignment  of  attributes  is  needed  in 
conclusion.  The  character  of  Cass  is  presented 
by  his  acts,  by  his  attitude  on  great  public  ques 
tions,  and  by  the  results  of  a  life  given  to  the 
service  of  his  country.1  Scarcely  another  man  in 

1  In  the  preparation  of  the  general  sketch  of  the  character  of 
Cass,  I  have  relied  not  only  on  the  impressions  produced  by  a 
careful  study  of  his  words  and  acts,  but  also  upon  statements 
made  to  me  by  men  who  knew  him  well,  and  whose  candor  and 


THE  LAST  YEARS  357 

our  history  was  for  so  many  years  so  closely  con 
nected  with  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  United 
States.  He  stands  as  a  representative  of  the  Old 
Northwest.  Taking  his  life  as  a  centre,  we  can 
trace  the  political,  social,  and  industrial  develop 
ment  of  this  section  of  the  Union,  which,  in  large 
part  because  of  his  efforts,  changed  in  a  genera 
tion  from  wildness  and  stagnation  into  order  and 
activity.  He  was  the  "Father  of  the  West,"  but 
his  generous  patriotism  left  no  room  for  selfish 
provincialism.  He  was  a  democrat  in  the  general 
sense  of  the  word,  inculcating  throughout  his  ca 
reer  with  unflinching  zeal  the  great  doctrine  of 
faith  in  the  people,  and  in  the  dignity  and  worth 
of  the  common  American  voter;  but  his  love  of 
individual  liberty  and  his  advocacy  of  personal 

intelligent  discrimination  I  could  trust.  As  I  have  said  in  my 
preface,  I  have  neither  cared  nor  dared  to  reject  the  estimate  of 
the  personality  of  Cass  given  me  by  men  of  intelligence  who  knew 
him  as  he  was,  men  of  affairs  who  were  part  of  the  times  of  which 
I  write  and  who  could  speak,  from  their  own  knowledge,  concern 
ing  the  moral  worth,  integrity  and  intellectual  strength  of  the 
subject  of  my  sketch.  I  have  not  placed  confidence  in  the  ran 
dom  recollections  of  those  who  chanced  to  know  him ;  but  have 
sought  the  sober  judgment  of  persons  of  experience  who  knew  the 
historical  circumstance  and  were  able  from  their  knowledge  of  the 
man  to  reach  sensible  and  reasonable  conclusions.  To  give  no  cre 
dence  to  the  statements  of  such  men  as  I  have  consulted,  and  to 
rely  on  the  opinion  of  the  secondary  writers  or  the  prejudiced  as 
sertions  of  contemporaries  would  be  to  disregard  the  most  funda 
mental  canon  in  the  preparation  of  historical  narrative.  I  add  this 
note  because  I  think  that  it  is  customary  to  underestimate  the 
character  and  the  intellectual  ability  of  Cass,  and  because  some 
fault  has  been  found  by  critics  of  the  first  edition  with  my  gen 
eral  appraisal  of  his  worth  and  influence. 


358  LEWIS  CASS 

rights  did  not  blind  his  eyes  to  the  grand  individ 
uality  of  the  nation,  and  the  bright  destiny  of  a 
Union  which  was  more  than  a  union  of  States. 
With  an  extreme  Americanism  he  indorsed  in 
his  life  the  party  doctrine  that  the  "world  is  too 
much  governed ;"  but  he  did  not  lose  himself  in 
silly  sentimentalities  about  the  needlessness  of  gov 
ernment,  nor  confound  lawlessness  and  liberty. 
He  was  a  Democrat  in  the  party  sense  of  the 
word,  a  strong  adherent  to  the  party  organization ; 
but  he  did  not  let  his  hunger  for  success  or  his 
thirst  for  revenge  deaden  his  senses  to  a  percep 
tion  of  justice,  nor  cause  him  to  see  liberty  in 
rebellion  and  freedom  under  the  manacles  of  the 
slave. 

He  was  fair  and  honest,  winning  by  his  frank 
ness  the  confidence  of  fellow-partisans  and  oppo 
nents.  The  Kepublican  party  seemed  to  him  at 
first  a  sectional  party,  built  upon  localism  and  in- 
considerateness,-  but,  when  it  proved  the  defender 
of  the  Union,  although  he  never  forsook  his  own 
standard,  nor  capitulated  in  dogma,  he  gave  advice 
and  counsel  in  behalf  of  the  great  purpose  of  those 
against  whom  he  might  have  stored  up  wrath. 
In  his  speeches  in  the  Senate,  in  private  conversa 
tion,  and  in  correspondence  with  friends,  he  al 
ways  pleaded  for  the  broader  sympathy  and  more 
charitable  interpretation.  In  spite  of  the  vigor 
of  his  utterances  and  the  force  of  his  speech 
when  once  aroused  to  defend  a  great  national  prin 
ciple  or  to  expound  party  doctrine,  the  records  of 


THE  LAST  YEARS  359 

Congress  will  be  searched  in  vain  for  a  prevail 
ing  or  even  passing  feeling  of  ill-will  against  him. 
Those  who  came  in  contact  with  him  were  disarmed 
of  suspicions  by  his  benignant  frankness  and  the 
complete  good  faith  which  action  and  word  em 
phasized.  Yet  his  sincerity  has  been  especially 
stabbed  by  innuendo,  and  attacked  by  open  state 
ment,  until  those  who  have  not  known  him  as  he 
was  pass  him  by  as  a  man  who  smothered  his 
small  principles  and  traded  conscience  for  ap 
plause.  That  the  hope  of  the  presidency  did  not 
dazzle  his  judgment  until  it  could  not  read  in  the 
inner  white  light  of  his  heart,  it  would  be  pre 
sumptuous  to  declare.  Blind  self-deception,  so 
ready  to  answer  our  call  for  guidance,  may  have 
led  him  into  the  ditch.  But  we  turn  to  a  full 
record  of  his  life,  and  ask  that  those  who  cavil  at 
a  part  may  construe  with  the  context  before  them. 
The  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty  has  added  its 
blight  to  his  name,  but  it  was  not  for  him  a  new 
doctrine;  his  more  prominent  political  life  was 
begun  in  an  effort  to  promote,  among  the  body  of 
the  people,  interest  and  action  in  local  affairs. 
His  love  of  union,  his  great  feeling  of  nationalism, 
and  his  resentment  of  foreign  interference,  gave 
a  coherence  and  consistency  to  his  life,  and  prove 
by  their  continuance  his  thoroughness,  earnestness, 
and  sincerity. 

The  daily  social  and  family  life  of  General  Cass 
was  one  of  such  even  courtesy  and  kindness  that 
mere  assertion  leaves  little  room  for  explanation 


360  LEWIS  CASS 

or  addition.  To  those  who  came  to  him  for  aid 
or  advice  he  was  an  interested  friend ;  young  men 
especially  attracted  him,  and  he  took  great  plea 
sure  in  giving  them  encouragement,  in  offering 
them  help  in  their  times  of  doubt  or  need.  He 
was  not  fond  of  general  society ;  his  simple  tastes 
and  quiet,  abstemious  habits  held  him  back  from 
an  indulgence  in  the  mere  frivolity  and  formality 
of  Washington  life.  In  his  own  home,  however, 
he  dispensed  a  large  and  delightful  hospitality. 
From  1831  until  his  withdrawal  from  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  he  spent  the  greater  portion  of  his  time 
away  from  Detroit;  but  his  old  house  at  that 
place,  filled  with  curios  and  interesting  relics 
from  the  frontiers  of  America  and  the  gay  capitals 
of  Europe,  was  not  infrequently  occupied,  and  he 
there  received  his  friends  with  generous,  unstinted 
welcome.  He  then  had  the  finest  library  in  Michi 
gan,  and  the  room  which  held  his  favorite  books 
was  his  own  peculiar  home.  There  he  often  en 
tertained  small  companies  of  more  intimate  friends 
and  of  distinguished  men.  While  agreeable  and 
entertaining  in  private  conversation,  showing  wide 
reading  and  broad  comprehension,  impressing  all 
who  listened  to  his  unpretentious  talk  with  the 
feeling  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of  a  well- 
informed  and  cultured  gentleman,  he  had  none  of 
the  rarer  charms  of  personal  grace  or  of  wit  and 
brilliance;  there  was  no  flash  of  sudden  genius  or 
warmth  of  kindling  enthusiasm  over  a  keen  or 
subtle  argument.  On  the  contrary,  in  public  and 


THE  LAST  YEARS  361 

in  private  speech,  his  face  generally  maintained 
a  certain  immobility.  His  features  were  heavy, 
only  occasionally  lighted  up  when  unusual  circum 
stances  called  for  the  determination,  boldness,  and 
vigor  of  the  man.  Even  then  he  was  impressive, 
ponderous,  sternly  dominant.  Yet  a  customary 
look  of  benignity  softened  the  severity  of  his  face ; 
in  hours  of  political  success  or  defeat  he  main 
tained  his  serenity  and  hopefulness ;  he  habitually, 
in  his  private  conversations,  refrained  from  rancor 
or  trenchant  criticism  and  imputation. 

Before  the  public,  General  Cass  was  a  man  who 
carried  weight  by  the  density  and  compactness  of 
his  arguments,  by  the  vigor  of  his  language,  and 
the  gravity  of  his  sense.  He  was  not  always  right ; 
his  earlier  vigor  and  fire  were  tempered  into  bold 
ness  and  decision  in  middle  age,  and  became  un 
bending,  consistent  conservatism*  in  the  days  of 
his  later  public  service,  a  conservatism  which  often 
led  him  to  adopt  political  inexpedients  and  did 
not  restrain  him  from  error.  But  his  public  utter 
ances  always  made  an  impression,  and  doubtless 
served  to  dampen  a  too  ardent  impetuosity.  He 
often,  perhaps  usually,  read  his  speeches  from 
manuscript.  They  were  skillfully  and  elaborately 
prepared.  His  large  figure  and  his  erect  bearing 
aided  the  dignity  of  his  words;  and  often  where 
a  man  of  less  significant  appearance  would  escape 
attention,  or  leave  an  audience  unaffected  by  his 
appeals,  the  physical  poise  and  stateliness  of  Cass 
would  arrest  the  attention  of  the  heedless,  and 


362  LEWIS  CASS 

compel  conviction  in  the  doubting.  So  universally 
thoughtful  and  well-considered,  however,  were  his 
public  addresses,  that  mere  physical  greatness  was 
not  needed  to  make  them  worthy  of  notice.  What 
was  worth  doing  at  all  seemed  worth  doing  well ; 
his  orations  at  agricultural  meetings  and  at  great 
industrial  celebrations  show  the  customary  breadth 
of  scholarship  and  careful  preparation.  He  was 
not  an  orator  in  the  sense  that  Henry  Clay  and 
Patrick  Henry  were  orators.  He  belonged  rather 
to  the  unimpassioned  school  of  steady  thinkers  and 
not  too  ready  speakers,  whose  words  come  for  a 
purpose  and  with  the  stored-up  energy  of  convic 
tion.  An  opponent  was  rather  crushed  by  the 
dead  weight  of  argument  than  taken  captive  by 
blandishments  of  rhetoric. 

He  was  a  scholar  and  a  man  of  books  as  well 
as  a  politician  and  a  statesman.  His  essays  were 
often  even  graceful,  and  always  bore  the  same 
marks  of  care  which  his  speeches  presented.  When 
starting  on  one  of  his  long  voyages  in  his  bark 
canoe  in  the  days  of  his  governorship,  he  used  to 
supply  himself  with  a  number  of  books;  and,  as 
he  journeyed,  he  read  them  thoughtfully,  or  he 
listened  while  one  of  his  companions  read  them  to 
him.  The  information,  thus  stored  away  in  his 
mind,  often  in  later  years  showed  itself  in  some 
rare  and  unexpected  piece  of  knowledge.  He 
never  was  enticed  by  the  excitement  of  politics 
entirely  to  forsake  his  books.  He  could  not  be 
come  a  profound  scholar  in  the  midst  of  his  active 


THE  LAST  YEARS  363 

life,  but  his  learning  was  unusually  wide,  often 
surprising  by  its  scope  even  those  who  knew  him 
well  and  had  reason  to  respect  his  studies.  To  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  great  facts  of  his 
tory  he  added  no  meagre  knowledge  of  science  and 
literature.  In  1827  he  read  before  the  Detroit 
Historical  Society  an  essay  on  the  Early  History 
of  Detroit  and  the  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  a  valu 
able  contribution  to  historical  literature.  This 
essay  and  three  others  by  fellow-members  of  the 
society  have  been  published  under  the  title  "  Sketches 
of  Michigan."  In  1830  he  delivered  a  scholarly 
address  before  the  Association  of  Alumni  of  Ham 
ilton  College,  and  in  1836,  as  first  president  of 
the  American  Historical  Association,  he  read  an 
article  which  bears  the  marks  of  thoughtful  prepa 
ration,  as  well  as  knowledge  and  appreciation  of 
the  great  truths  of  history  and  of  political  philoso 
phy.  His  articles  in  the  "North  American  Re 
view  "  treat  generally  of  Indian  and  Western  sub 
jects,  and  show  his  great  acquaintance  with  Indian 
character  and  of  the  problems  which  affect  our 
country's  progress.  These  essays  are  long  and 
discursive,  written  at  a  time  when  our  important 
magazines  invited  profound  and  exhaustive  treat 
ment  of  interesting  and  serious  topics.  While 
secretary  of  war  he  prepared  for  the  "American 
Quarterly  Review  "  an  account  of  the  siege  of  New 
Orleans.  The  article,  covering  some  sixty  pages 
of  the  magazine,  is  of  lasting  historic  value,  inas 
much  as  it  was  based  upon  papers  and  information 


364  LEWIS  CASS 

intrusted  to  him  by  General  Jackson.  His  most 
valuable  literary  work  was  in  connection  with  the 
history  of  New  France.  Dr.  Francis  Parkman 
acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  "Hon.  Lewis 
Cass  for  a  curious  collection  of  papers  relating  to 
the  siege  of  Detroit  by  the  Indians."1  While 
minister  in  France,  he  collected  and  examined  docu 
mentary  evidence  relating  to  the  French  power  in 
America,  and  procured  important  papers  which 
were  published  by  the  Wisconsin  Historical  So 
ciety.  He  not  only  gave  material  and  inspiration 
to  Mrs.  Sheldon  for  her  "Early  History  of  Michi 
gan,"  but  aided  and  encouraged  M.  Pierre  Margry 
to  begin  the  studies  which  have  resulted  in  such 
valuable  additions  to  historical  information.  His 
own  studies  of  contemporary  France,  while  repre 
senting  our  own  government,  were  embodied  in 
a  book  already  mentioned,  "France,  its  King, 
Court,  and  Government,"  a  book  of  190  closely 
printed  octavo  pages.  About  the  same  time  he 
published  "Three  Hours  at  Saint  Cloud,"  and  an 
article  of  no  little  worth  in  the  "Democratic  Re 
view  "  on  "The  Modern  French  Judicature."  All 
the  contributions  to  periodicals  were  more  than 
mere  trivialities  dashed  off  in  haste  for  a  penny  a 
line;  they  are  real  additions  to  knowledge. 

In  public  and  private  life  he  was  honest.  About 
1815  he  bought,  with  funds  received  from  the  sale 
of  lands  in  Ohio,  a  large  tract  of  land  near  De 
troit.  As  the  city  grew,  this  property  came  into 

1  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  Preface. 


THE  LAST  YEARS  365 

demand,  and  its  sale  in  lots  made  him  wealthy. 
He  had  no  temptation  to  be  dishonest  in  public 
dealings,  or,  as  is  sometimes  charged,  to  be  a 
"money-maker."  He  was  completely  free  from 
the  taints  of  financial  corruption.  To  honesty  he 
added  temperance.  He  seldom  tasted  wine  of  any 
kind,  though  not  refusing  to  provide  his  guests 
with  the  best.  His  public  work  in  behalf  of  tem 
perance  has  been  spoken  of;  when  secretary  of 
war  he  called  attention  to  the  subject  of  intemper 
ance  in  the  army,  and  advocated  that  other  rations 
be  substituted  for  whiskey.  He  also  spoke  pub 
licly  of  the  evils  of  drink.  His  moderation  reached 
beyond  the  limits  of  meat  and  drink,  and  showed 
itself  in  a  life  strangely  regular  and  methodical, 
prolonged,  in  consequence,  to  an  advanced  age, 
unimpaired  by  disease,  or  weakened  by  aught 
save  the  attacks  of  time. 

The  name  of  Lewis  Cass  will  not  be  written  in 
the  future  with  those  of  the  few  men  whose  influ 
ence  is  everywhere  discernible,  and  who  perpetuate 
themselves  in  institutions  and  in  national  tenden 
cies.  He  was  not  a  Washington,  nor  a  Lincoln, 
nor  a  Hamilton,  nor  a  Jefferson,  nor  a  John 
Quincy  Adams.  But  he  was  a  great  American 
statesman,  building  up  and  Americanizing  an  im 
portant  section  of  his  country,  struggling  in  places 
of  trust  for  the  recognition  of  American  dignity 
and  for  the  development  of  generous  nationalism. 
With  the  great  slavery  contest  his  name  is  insepa 
rably  connected ;  he  stood  with  Webster  and  Clay 


366  LEWIS  CASS 

for  Union,  for  conciliation,  for  the  Constitution 
as  it  seemed  to  be  established.  He  was  one  of 
those  men  whose  broad  love  of  country  and  pride 
in  her  greatness,  however  exaggerated,  however 
absurd  it  may  seem  in  these  days  of  cynical  self- 
restraint,  lifted  her  from  colonialism  to  national 
dignity,  and  imbued  the  people  with  a  sense  of 
their  power. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


ABBOTT,  BENJAMIN,  studies  of  Cass 
under,  at  Exeter,  38. 

Abolitionists,  begin  agitation,  their 
factions,  178 ;  persecuted  in  North, 
178,  198 ;  results  of  their  actions, 
198,  199;  not  to  be  over-praised, 
215  ;  execrated,  in  1844,  222. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  nominated 
for  vice-presidency,  253. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  urges  prepara 
tions  for  war  against  France,  167 ; 
calls  Cass's  protest  to  Guizot  ab 
surd,  183, 184  ;  his  prejudices,  185 ; 
comments  on  controversy  between 
Cass  and  Webster,  189 ;  his  anti- 
slavery  contest,  198,  209 ;  attacked 
by  Birney,  209 ;  his  opinion  of  Van 
Buren,  253;  contrast  to  Giddings, 
in  relation  to  constituents,  258. 

Adams,  Gov.  James  H.,  of  South  Car 
olina,  denounces  laws  against  slave 
trade,  330. 

Allen,  Charles,  refuses  to  support 
Taylor  for  president,  250. 

Allen,  William,  attacked  by  Critten- 
den,  228. 

American  party.  See  Know-Nothing 
party. 

Anderson,  Charles  E.,  denies  story  of 
Cass's  submission  to  Webster,  193. 

Ashburton,  Lord,  negotiates  with 
Webster,  184. 

Atkinson,  General  John,  overawes 
Indians,  128. 

Austria,  signs  treaty  against  slave 
trade,  179. 

BANK,  motives  for  Jackson's  attack 
on,  153 ;  removal  of  deposits  from, 
153, 154 ;  Cass's  views  of,  203. 

Barnburners,  their  origin  as  faction 
friendly  to  Van  Buren,  240,  241 ; 


oppose  slavery  extension,  242;  se 
cede  from  state  convention,  242 ; 
refuse  to  support  a  candidate  pledged 
against  Wilmot  Proviso,  242,  243; 
at  national  convention,  243;  bitter 
against  Cass,  243 ;  in  convention  at 
Utica  nominate  Van  Buren,  251; 
at  Buffalo  Convention,  252;  out 
number  Cass's  supporters  in  New 
York,  261 ;  support  Pierce  in  1852, 
291. 

Barry,  William  T.,  asked  to  remain 
in  Jackson's  cabinet,  136 ;  succeeded 
by  Kendall,  137  ;  minister  to  Spain, 
137. 

Bell,  John,  candidate  of  Constitu 
tional  Union  party  for  president 
in  1860,  339. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  on  removing  In 
dians,  160;  on  Folk's  nomination, 
219 ;  classed  by  South  with  Cass  and 
Van  Buren  as  dishonored  for  with 
holding  unlimited  support,  307. 

Berrien,  John  M.,  resigns  from  Jack 
son's  cabinet,  137. 

Biddle,  Nicholas,  hatred  of  Jackson 
for,  153. 

Birney,  James  G.,  nominated  for  pre 
sident  in  1843,  209  ;  attacks  Adams, 
209  ;  Garland  forgery  against,  221 ; 
lives  in  Michigan,  222. 

Black,  Jeremiah  S.,  attorney-general 
under  Buchanan,  329;  says  Cass 
wishes  to  withdraw  resignation, 
348. 

Black  Hawk,  brings  on  war  in  North 
west,  141 ;  captured,  141, 142. 

Black  Hawk  war,  141,  142. 

Blennerhassett,  Harmon,  involved  by 
Burr  in  his  schemes,  49 ;  visits  of 
Cass  to,  49. 

Blockade,    doctrine    of,    defined    by 


370 


INDEX 


Cass,  337 ;  later  modified  by  expe 
rience,  337. 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  confiscates 
American  shipping,  53. 

Boyd,  George,  describes  English  pre 
sents  to  Indians,  110. 

Branch,  John,  resigns  from  cabinet, 
137. 

Breckenridge,  John  C.,  nominated  for 
vice-president  in  1852,  322;  nomi 
nated  for  president  in  1860,  339. 

Brock,  Isaac,  on  effect  of  Hull's  pro 
clamation,  69,  70 ;  prepares  to  at 
tack  Detroit,  76;  demands  surren 
der,  77  ;  on  numbers  of  Hull's  force, 

80,  81 ;  aware  of  Hull's  imbecility, 

81,  82. 

Brooks,  Preston  S.,  assaults  Sumner, 

320  ;  resigns  from  House,  reflected, 

321  ;  applauded  by  South,  321. 
Brougham,  Lord,  disclaims  for  Eng 
land  any  pretense  to  right  of  search 
except   to   put  down   slave  trade, 
180 ;  attacks    Cass   for  demagogy, 
182  ;  his  attack  increases  Gass's  pop 
ularity,  204. 

Brown,  Aaron  V.,  postmaster-general, 
329. 

Brush,  Captain ,  asks  Hull  for  an 

escort,  73,  74 ;  his  efforts  to  reach 
Detroit,  77;  surrendered  by  Hull, 
80. 

Buchanan,  James,  on  Jackson's  de 
sire  to  get  rid  of  Cass  for  indeci 
sion,  165 ;  candidate  for  nomina 
tion  in  1843,  202,  205 ;  offers  to 
compromise  Oregon,  227 ;  candi 
date  for  nomination  in  1848,  240 ; 
candidate  in  1852,  288 ;  connection 
with  Ostend  Manifesto,  313,  314; 
nominated  for  president,  321; 
elected,  323 ;  his  view  on  popular 
sovereignty,  327 ;  appoints  Cass 
secretary  of  state,  328  ;  announces 
settlement  of  controversy  over  right 
of  search,  335 ;  his  secession  mes 
sage,  341,  342 ;  refuses  to  reinforce 
forts  at  Charleston,  344,  348;  his 
action  defended,  346,  347 ;  says 
Cass  wishes  to  withdraw  resigna 
tion,  348. 

Burr,  Aaron,  his  schemes  in  the  West, 
47, 48 ;  his  character,  48  ;  ensnares 


Blennerhassett,  48 ;  betrayed  by  Wil 
kinson,  49 ;  his  flight,  trial,  and  ac 
quittal,  50;  plan  of  Federalists  to 
make  him  president,  53. 

Butler,  Senator  A.  P.,  denounced  by 
Sumner,  318. 

Butler,  William  O.,  nominated  for 
vice-president,  243. 

CADILLAC,  LA  MOTTK,  founds  Detroit, 
14. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  letter  of  Cass  to, 
on  English  intrigues  with  Indians, 
111 ;  letter  of  Cass  to,  proposing 
Western  tour,  116,  117;  Jackson's 
quarrel  with,  133 ;  his  wife  refuses 
to  meet  Mrs.  Eaton,  134 ;  his  friends 
in  cabinet  resign,  137 ;  embittered 
by  loss  of  hope  to  succeed  Jackson, 
142;  becomes  advocate  of  slavery 
in  South  Carolina,  143 ;  commits 
himself  to  doctrine  of  nullification, 
144;  plans  to  remove  New  York 
Indians  into  Northwest  to  retard  its 
growth,  160 ;  compared  with  Cass 
in  debate,  194  ;  candidate  for  nomi 
nation  in  1843,  202 ;  promises  sub 
mission  to  convention,  202,  203  ;  has 
no  real  hope  of  nomination,  206 ; 
supported  by  Irish  in  North,  206 ; 
secretary  of  state  under  Tyler,  211  ; 
works  for  annexation  of  Texas,  211, 
224 ;  withdraws  his  candidacy,  217 ; 
his  doctrine  of  slavery  in  Territories 
rejected  by  Democratic  Convention, 
244  ;  his  last  speech  read  to  Senate, 
278 ;  his  argument  to  preserve  equi 
librium  of  sections,  279;  criticised 
by  Cass,  280. 

California,  gold  fever  in,  262,  263; 
needs  territorial  government,  265, 
267 ;  adopts  a  state  constitution 
prohibiting  slavery,  268;  its  admis 
sion  recommended  by  Taylor,  272; 
admitted,  283;  carried  by  Buchanan, 
323. 

Campbell,  L.  D.,  on  Whig  party  in 
1848,  250. 

Campbell,  Judge  William  W.,  quoted, 
67. 

Canada,  Northwest  a  part  of,  3  ;  de 
sire  to  conquer,  in  1812,  59,  60; 
Hull's  invasion  of,  61-84;  Hull's 


INDEX 


371 


proclamation  to,  68,  69;  its  effect, 
69,  70;  shelters  hostile  Indians  after 
war,  102 ;  boundary  controversy 
with,  175;  rebellion  in,  and  Caro 
line  affair,  175. 

Caroline  affair,  175,  176. 

Cass,  John,  34. 

Cass,  Jonathan,  father  of  Louis  Cass, 
34;  his  character,  34;  enters  army 
in  Revolution,  35 ;  his  military  ser 
vices,  35;  marries,  35;  opposes  paper 
money  mob,  37 ;  in  Wayne's  West 
ern  campaign,  38;  commands  Fort 
Hamilton,  38;  at  Wilmington,  39; 
moves  to  Ohio,  39,  40;  locates  land 
warrants,  42. 

Cass,  Lewis,  on  Indian  liking  for 
French,  11;  on  agricultural  igno 
rance  of  Canadians,  26;  a  represent 
ative  man  of  Northwest,  29,  30; 
ancestry,  34,  35  ;  birth,  35  ;  influ 
enced  in  childhood  by  troubles  of 
Confederacy,  30;  recollects  rejoi 
cings  on  adoption  of  Constitution, 
37;  education,  38,  39;  acquaintance 
at  Exeter  with  Webster,  38;  certi 
ficate  of  studies  performed,  39 ; 
teaches  school,  39  ;  migrates  to 
West,  40;  at  Marietta  in  1799,  41; 
studies  law,  42;  frontier  life,  42; 
adopts  Jeffersonian  ideals,  43;  fal 
sity  of  charge  of  changing  party  for 
office,  44;  admitted  to  bar,  44;  prac 
tices  in  Zanesville,  45;  describes  ex 
periences  on  circuit,  46. 

Ohio  Jeffersonian  Politician. 
Elected  to  legislature  in  1806,  47; 
on  committee  to  investigate  Burr's 
schemes,  49 ;  drafts  bill  authorizing 
governor  to  suppress  them,  49,  50; 
instigates  passage  of  resolution  ex 
pressing  attachment  to  government, 
50;  accepts  office  of  United  States 
marshal,  51  ;  marries,  his  private 
life,  51 ;  success  at  bar,  52 ;  defends 
judges  impeached  for  declaring  a 
law  unconstitutional,  52;  his  career 
changed  by  outbreak  of  war,  59. 
In  War  of  1812.  In  spite  of  later 
denial,  hopes  to  conquer  Canada,  59, 
60;  colonel  of  third  Ohio  regiment, 
60;  his  address  to  soldiers,  60;  his 
part  in  Hull's  campaign,  63;  arrives 


at  Detroit,  63;  on  mission  to  British 
at  Maiden,  65;  urges  attack,  66,  70; 
his  enthusiasm,  67;  possibly  the 
author  of  Hull's  proclamation,  68, 
69;  leads  an  attack  upon  British 
outpost,  71,  72;  his  disgust  at  Hull's 
weakness,  72;  urges  sending  escort 
for  provisions,  74  ;  informs  Hull 
that  Ohio  militia  will  refuse  to  obey 
order  to  retreat,  74;  asks  for  per 
mission  to  replace  Miller,  75;  plans 
to  depose  Hull,  75;  urges  Meigs  to 
come  and  assume  command,  76;  sent 
to  escort  Brush,  77;  on  returning, 
obliged  to  surrender  with  Hull,  79; 
his  exasperation,  79,  80;  at  Wash 
ington,  reports  Hull's  incompetence, 
82;  witness  in  court-martial  of  Hull, 
83;  not  prejudiced  from  political 
reasons,  83;  appointed  major-gen 
eral,  85 ;  raises  a  regiment,  as  col 
onel  in  army,  85 ;  made  brigadier- 
general  in  regular  army,  85 ;  in 
Harrison's  campaign  of  1813,  86  ;  at 
battle  of  Thames,  87. 

Governor  of  Michigan  Territory. 
Appointed  in  1813,  88 ;  his  duties, 
89  ;  endeavors  to  relieve  distress,  90, 
91 ;  determines  to  chastise  Indians, 
91 ;  leads  attacks  upon  them,  92 ; 
induces  Indians  to  aid,  92  ;  his  influ 
ence  restrains  them  from  excesses, 

92,  99 ;  resigns  military  commission, 
93;  hampered  by  lack  of  authority, 
93;   obliged  to  rely  on  volunteers, 

93,  94 ;  continues  to  harass  Upper 
Canada,  94 ;  his  task  to  American 
ize  Michigan,  95  ;  distributes  relief 
among  poor,  96 ;  wishes  to  introduce 
American  farmers,  97 ;  urges  prompt 
surveying  of  bounty  lands,  97,  98  ; 
disappointed  at  gloomy  report  of 
surveyors,  98  ;  secures  opening  of  a 
land  office,  98  ;  hampered  by  British 
interference,  99 ;  acquires  a  hatred 
for    England,    100,    101  ;    protests 
against  English  search  of    vessels 
on  lakes,  101,  102  ;   troubles  with 
soldiers,  102;    authorized  to  cease 
giving  Indians  presents,   103;    re 
fuses  to  release  Vidal,  and  demands 
return  of  British  deserter  seized  in 
Detroit,  104  ;  his  action  in  arresting 


372 


INDEX 


Vidal  ratified,  105;  arrogant  com- 
plaiut  of  Colonel  James  to,  105 ;  re 
plies  to  James,  106  ;  resents  med 
dling  of  English  between  territorial 
government  and  Indians,  107,  108  ; 
explains  English  policy  to  Monroe, 
108  ;  applauded  in  East,  110  ;  gains 
increasing  influence  over  Indians, 
110;  detaches  them  from  British 
influence,  110  ;  annoyed  by  British 
intrigue  throughout  term,  110,  111 ; 
describes  British  presents,  111,  112 ; 
vast  region  controlled  by,  115 ;  his 
travels  and  treaties,  115,  116  ;  ac 
quires  land  by  treaty  with  Indians, 
116  ;  his  voyage  with  Schoolcraft  in 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  116-122; 
his  departure,  117  ;  meets  Indians  at 
Sault  St.  Marie,  118  ;  announces  in 
tention  to  found  a  military  station, 
118 ;  goes  alone  to  Indian  camp  and 
tears  down  British  flag,  119  ;  suc 
cess  of  his  courageous  decision,  120; 
wins  respect  of  Indians,  120 ;  con 
ducts  experiments  to  test  existence 
of  tides  in  lakes,  121 ;  tries  to  pre 
pare  "  habitants  "  for  self-govern 
ment,  122  ;  the  "  Cass  Code,"  122  ; 
invites  suggestions  for  local  nomi 
nations,  122  ;  urges  building  roads, 
123 ;  encourages  growth  of  political 
feeling,  124;  aids  churches,  125; 
suggests  educational  system,  125  ; 
his  opinion  of  education  and  demo 
cracy,  125, 126  ;  other  Indian  trea 
ties,  126,  127  ;  his  dangerous  mis 
sion  to  Winnebagoes,  127,  128 ; 
escapes  assassination,  128  ;  organ 
izes  defense  in  Illinois,  128;  pre 
vents  war  by  promptness,  129 ;  dar 
ing  in  this  exploit,  129;  outlines 
a  policy  toward  Indians,  129;  his 
honorable  dealing  with  them,  130 ; 
its  success,  130;  tries  to  diminish 
drunkenness  among  Indians,  130, 
131 ;  regard  of  Indians  for,  131 ;  his 
tact  toward  them,  131,  132. 
Secretary  of  War.  Appointed  by 
Jackson  in  1831,  138  ;  directs  Scott 
to  go  to  Charleston,  146;  explains 
attitude  of  government  toward 
South  Carolina,  147 ;  orders  Scott 
to  repel  any  aggression,  148 ;  author 


of  letter  urging  Virginia  to  intercede 
with  South  Carolina,  149;  his  pre 
paration  for  national  politics,  152 ; 
becomes  a  Jacksonian  Democrat, 
152;  confirmed  in  belief  in  bold 
foreign  policy,  152  ;  his  admiration 
for  Jackson,  153 ;  with  Jackson  on 
tour  in  the  North,  153  ;  tells  Lewis 
he  disapproves  of  removal  of  depos 
its  and  wishes  to  resign,  154  ;  per 
suaded  by  Jackson  to  remain,  155  ; 
disclaims  responsibility,  155  ;  advo 
cates  removal  of  Florida  Indians  to 
West,  159,  161 ;  his  action  not  influ 
enced  by  any  regard  for  slavery,  160  ; 
opposes  Supreme  Court  doctrine  re 
lative  to  Indians,  161 ;  advises  armed 
settlement  of  Florida,  163 ;  not  guilty 
of  carelessness  in  Seminole  war,  1G3; 
on  fortifications,  164  ;  urges  building 
of  navy,  164  ;  advocates  discontinu 
ance  of  whiskey  rations,  164 ;  health 
impaired  by  office  life,  164,  165  ;  ac 
cepts  mission  to  France,  165 ;  said 
by  Buchanan  to  have  annoyed  Jack 
son  by  indecision,  165  ;  improbability 
of  story  about,  166  ;  his  warm  friend 
ship  with  Jackson,  166. 
Minister  to  France.  Reasons  for 
his  appointment,  165,  166  ;  goes  to 
Paris,  168  ;  social  duties,  168,  169  ; 
his  intimate  relations  with  Louis 
Philippe,  169  ;  his  interest  in  French 
people  and  society,  169  ;  visits  Eng 
land,  170  ;  indignant  at  English  man 
ners,  170  ;  his  travels  in  1837,  170  ; 
views  of  Italy  and  Greece,  171 ;  in 
Turkey  and  Syria,  172 ;  affection 
for  Louis  Philippe,  173 ;  writes  his 
life,  174  ;  his  description  of  France, 
174,  175  ;  appreciates  discontent  of 
French  people,  175 ;  expects  war 
with  England  in  1841,  177  ;  urges 
Webster  to  resent  English  preten 
sions,  177  ;  and  prepares  navy,  177  ; 
opposes  treaty  to  suppress  slave 
trade,  180 ;  considers  it  merely  an 
English  trick  to  gain  right  of  search, 
180 ;  his  pamphlet  approved  in  Amer 
ica,  181;  writes  protest  to  France 
against  treaty,  181  ;  attacked  in  Eng 
land,  182;  suspected  of  demagogy 
by  Webster,  182;  denounced  by 


INDEX 


373 


Adams,  183,  184  ;  his  prime  motive 
dislike  of  England,  185 ;  possibly  in 
fluenced  by  desire  to  please  the 
South,  186 ;  proposed  for  presi 
dency,  his  reply,  186 ;  good  results 
of  his  diplomacy,  187  ;  wishes  to  re 
sign  on  news  of  Ashburton  treaty, 
188 ;  protests  against  treaty  for  not 
containing  abandonment  of  right  of 
search,  188,  189  ;  bitter  correspond 
ence  with  Webster,  189-193;  com 
plains  of  stultification  by  treaty, 
190  ;  in  the  right  against  Webster, 
191 ;  his  interference  uncalled  for, 
191 ;  said  to  have  confessed  to  Web 
ster  his  overthrow,  192  ;  falsity  of 
story,  192,  193 ;  his  ability  in  de 
bate,  193,  194  ;  his  life  in  Paris,  194 ; 
praised  at  his  departure,  195 ;  his 
speech,  195  ;  his  diplomatic  ability, 
196. 

Candidate  for  Presidential  Nomi 
nation.  His  enthusiastic  reception 
in  New  England  and  New  York,  197, 
198 ;  not  looked  upon  as  subservient 
to  slave  power,  198  ;  his  welcome  at 
Washington,  199 ;  journey  to  De 
troit,  200  ;  public  honors  in  Pennsyl 
vania  and  Ohio,  200;  reception  in 
Detroit,  200;  questioned  on  public 
matters,  201 ;  nominated  by  local 
Democratic  conventions,  201  ;  up 
held  by  "New  York  Herald,"  201, 
202  ;  replies  to  Dickerson  asserting 
his  Democratic  orthodoxy,  202  ;  his 
answer  to  Indianapolis  convention, 
203;  views  on  bank,  public  lands, 
tariff,  etc.,  203;  aided  by  Webster 
controversy  and  Brougham's  attack, 
203, 204  ;  deprecates  partisan  attacks 
of  followers  upon  Van  Buren,  204 ; 
writes  letter  in  favor  of  Texas  an^ 
nexation,  213  ;  appeals  to  jealousy 
of  English  interference,  213 ;  asserts 
popular  demand  for  it,  214  ;  his  de 
sire  for  annexation  due  to  Western 
training,  215 ;  not  a  "  doughface," 
215 ;  vote  for,  in  Democratic  na 
tional  convention  at  Baltimore  in 
1844,  218;  directs  supporters  to 
withdraw  his  name  at  any  time  in 
interest  of  harmony,  219  ;  his  active 
part  in  campaign  of  1844,  222,  223  ; 


prophesies  success  in  Northwest, 
223. 

In  United  States  Senate.  Elected 
in  1845,  225  ;  on  Committee  on  For 
eign  Relations,  225  ;  his  oratorical 
ability,  225  ;  champion  of  American 
ism,  225,  226 ;  absence  of  personal 
enemies,  226  ;  favors  occupation  of 
Oregon,  226 ;  introduces  resolution 
to  prepare  for  war  with  England, 
227  ;  leads  the  extreme  wing,  228; 
refers  to  inevitable  war,  228;  circu 
lates  speeches  to  aid  his  candidacy, 
229;  protests  in  vain  against  treaty, 
230;  supports  Polk  in  Mexican  war 
legislation,  231,  232;  expresses  sor 
row  at  loss  of  Wilmot  Proviso,  233; 
later  speaks  against  it  as  unneces 
sary  and  liable  to  prevent  acquisi 
tion  of  territory,  233;  from  this 
time,  ceases  completely  to  represent 
Northwest,  234;  comment  of  Sena 
tor  Miller  on,  234,  235;  the  father 
of  "squatter  sovereignty,"  235;  his 
letter  to  Nicholson,  236,  237;  argues 
against  power  of  Congress  over  Ter 
ritories,  238 ;  not  insincere  in  advo 
cating  this  doctrine,  238  ;  possibly 
expects  popular  sovereignty  will  as 
sure  freedom  instead  of  slavery,  239; 
lack  of  opposing  candidates  for  pre 
sidential  nomination  in  1848,  240; 
nominated,  243;  hatred  of  Barn 
burners  for,  243;  his  letter  of  ac 
ceptance,  245;  resigns  seat  in  Sen 
ate,  245. 

Candidate  for  Presidency.  His 
chances  lessened  by  Van  Buren's 
nomination  in  New  York,  252;  called 
the  Western  candidate,  254;  yet 
ceases  to  represent  the  new  spirit 
of  the  West,  254;  his  influence  keeps 
Michigan  Democratic,  256,  258;  his 
consistency,  259;  carries  Michigan 
and  other  Northwestern  States,  259; 
attacked  for  declining  to  attend  in 
ternal  improvements  convention, 
260  ;  later  disclaims  hostility  to 
them,  260;  not  trusted  by  the  South, 
261;  defeated  by  loss  of  South  and 
of  New  York,  261 ;  his  defeat  prob 
ably  fortunate  for  country,  263, 
264. 


374 


INDEX 


In  Senate  Again.  Reflected  with 
difficulty,  266,  269;  his  party  leader 
ship  in  Michigan,  266  n.;  in  Sen 
ate  on  March  3,  1849,  267;  invited 
by  New  York  Democrats  to  accept 
a  public  dinner,  270;  his  reply,  270, 
271;  announces  his  opposition  as  a 
Western  man  to  disunion,  271 ;  pre 
fers  to  resign  rather  than  obey  Free- 
Soil  instructions  of  Michigan  legis 
lature,  272,  275 ;  his  speech  on  squat 
ter  sovereignty,  272-275;  argument 
from  Democratic  principles,  273, 
274;  from  the  Constitution,  273;  in 
debate  on  Clay's  compromise,  277; 
on  peaceful  disunion,  277 ;  confesses 
inconsistency  with  regard  to  Wilmot 
Proviso,  277 ;  thanked  by  Clay,  277 ; 
views  on  slavery,  278 ;  exults  in 
compromise  resolutions  of  Michigan 
legislature,  278  ;  denounces  both 
Sevvard  and  Calhoun,  280;  member 
of  compromise  committee,  280;  aids 
Clay,  281;  continues  to  advocate 
non-interference,  282 ;  influences 
sentiment  of  his  State,  282;  favors 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  283  ;  votes 
against  jury  trial  for  fugitives  in 
North,  284;  appeals  for  recognition 
of  finality  of  compromise,  285;  re- 
elected  senator,  286;  laments  unpa 
triotic  opposition  to  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  287 ;  a  candidate  in  Democratic 
Convention  of  1852,  288;  upholds 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  295;  regrets 
reopening  of  agitation,  297;  thinks 
South  will  not  gain,  297,  299;  hopes 
principle  of  non-intervention  will 
bring  peace,  299,  300;  in  campaign 
of  1854  in  Michigan,  306;  denounces 
slavery  as  evil,  306;  condemned  by 
South  for  so  doing,  306,  307;  pleads 
for  calmness  and  forbearance,  307 ; 
denounces  Know  -  Nothing  party, 
311,  312;  considers  it  part  of  Re 
publican  movement,  312;  refuses  to 
obey  instructions  of  Michigan  legis 
lature,  313 ;  suspects  England  of 
purpose  to  prevent  annexation  of 
Cuba,  315;  disapproves  of  Ostend 
Manifesto,  315;  on  Clayton-Bulwer 
treaty,  316;  disapproves  of  Topeka 

Constitution  for  Kansas,  318;  con 


demns  Sumner's  Kansas  speech, 
319;  Sumner's  reply  to,  319;  on 
Senate  committee  to  investigate  as 
sault  on  Sumner,  321 ;  not  a  candi 
date  for  nomination  in  1856,  321, 
322;  regrets  "sectionalism"  of  Re 
publican  party,  323  ;  refused  re 
election  by  Michigan  legislature, 
324;  denies  right  of  visitation,  331, 
332;  admits  right  to  investigate 
genuineness  of  flag,  332,  333  ; 
strength  of  his  argument,  333;  his 
position  adopted  by  England,  335; 
view  of  Monroe  doctrine,  336;  dis 
patch  on  neutrality  and  blockades, 
337. 

Secretary  of  State.  In  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  328  ;  negotiations  over  Clay 
ton-Bulwer  treaty,  329 ;  reports 
English  outrages  on  vessels,  331 ; 
suggests  sending  war  vessels  to 
Southern  waters,  331 ;  negotiations 
with  Napier,  331-335  ;  feels  danger 
from  growth  of  Republican  party, 
338 ;  laments  secession,  340,  341  ; 
wishes  to  use  force  against  it,  341 ; 
yet  agrees  with  portions  of  Buchan 
an's  message,  341 ;  but  insists  that 
forts  at  Charleston  be  reinforced, 
344  ;  resigns  in  disgust,  344,  345. 

Last  Years.  Applauded  by  North 
and  by  Republicans,  345  ;  justified 
in  his  position,  346,  348 ;  over 
whelmed  at  news  of  secession,  347  ; 
does  not  desire  to  withdraw  resig 
nation,  348,  349  ;  addresses  Union 
meeting  in  1861,  350  ;  urges  vigor 
ous  support  of  government,  351  ; 
his  last  speech  urging  volunteering, 
352,  353  ;  urges  Seward  to  surren 
der  Mason  and  Slidell,  354,  355; 
last  years  and  death,  355  ;  funeral 
honors,  355,  356 ;  general  view  of 
his  career,  356-366 ;  a  representa 
tive  Northwestern  Democrat,  357  ; 
his  democracy,  357,  358;  breadth 
of  feeling,  358;  kindliness,  358,  359  ; 
real  sincerity,  359  ;  self-deceived  by 
presidential  ambition,  359;  social 
life,  359,  360  ;  his  culture,  360  ;  per 
sonal  appearance,  361 ;  oratorical 
and  forensic  ability,  361,  362  ;  read 
ing  habits,  362 ;  contributions  to 


INDEX 


375 


history,  363,  364;  property,  364, 
365;  honesty,  365  ;  temperance,  365 ; 
final  summary,  365,  366. 

Personal  Traits.  General  view, 
151-153,  365,  366;  unfavorable 
views,  63,  185,  296;  was  he  a 
"doughface"?  170,  178,186,  214, 
215,  278,  284;  courage,  67,  75,  92, 
105,  119,  128  ;  conservatism,  361 ; 
consistency,  259,  359  ;  debate,  power 
in,  193,  194,  229 ;  demagogy,  214, 
359;  diplomatic  ability,  184,  196, 
336  ;  education,  39  ;  energy,  40,  66, 
72,  86,  94,  127  ;  executive  ability, 
165,  166  ;  friendliness,  38,  115,  173, 
195,  258,  319,  359 ;  justice,  120,  130, 
259;  keenness  of  observation,  169; 
kindliness,  38,  358;  legal  ability, 
62  ;  literary  ability  and  interests, 
170-172,  195,  355,  362-364 ;  military 
ability,  71,  91  ;  oratory,  194,  195, 
225,  362;  partisanship,  229, 231 ;  per 
sonal  appearance,  225,  361 ;  poinp- 
ousness,  68,  195,  361  ;  private  life, 
51,  359  ;  social  qualities,  169,  194, 
359-361;  temper,  79,  108;  temper 
ance,  131,  365 ;  Western  represen 
tative,  215,  223,  234,  270,  357. 

Political  Views.  Americanism,  60, 
186,  225, 350, 351 ;  Ashburton  treaty, 
188-193;  Bank,  154,  203;  blockade, 
law  of,  337 ;  Burr  conspiracy,  49  ; 
compromise  of  1850,  281,  285,  287  ; 
democracy,  43,  122,  124,  152,  214, 
274,  357,  358;  disunion,  271,  277, 
341,  342,  344-346,  347;  education, 
125,  126;  England,  100-102,  104, 
108,  170,  177,  180-183,  185,  213,  228, 
315,316;  foreign  policy,152;  France, 
174;  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  283,  284, 
287;  Hull's  campaign,  82,  83;  In 
dians,  policy  toward,  91,  92,  107, 
110,  111,  115-120,  127-132,  159,  161; 
instructions,  doctrine  of,  275;  in 
ternal  improvements,  123,  260  ;  in 
ternational  law,  104,  106,  333,  337  ; 
judiciary,  52;  Kansas,  constitution 
of,  318,  319  ;  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
297, 299  ;  Know-Nothings,  311,  312  ; 
lands,  public,  203  ;  Monroe  doc 
trine,  336  ;  navy,  164 ;  Oregon,  227- 
230;  Ostend  Manifesto,  315;  pre 
sidential  ambitions,  186,  202,  203, 


227,  235, 288,  321 ;  Republican  party, 
313,  323,  358  ;  search,  right  of,  180- 
183, 189-191,  329, 331-336,  354  ;  slav 
ery,  186,  278,  297,  306;  South, 
regard  for,  284,  307.;  squatter  sov 
ereignty,  235,  236,  273-275,  205-297, 

306,  307,   359 ;  States'  rights,  161  ; 
tariff,  203  ;    Texas,  213,  223  ;  Trent 
affair,  354  ;  Union,  36, 152,  271,  299, 

307,  323,  352  ;  war  of  1812,  59  ;  war, 
Mexican,   231 ;    war    of    Rebellion, 
351-354  ;  Wilmot  Proviso,  233,  274, 
277. 

Champlain,  his  explorations,  4. 

Chandler,  Zachariah,  elected  Senator 
in  Cass's  place,  324  ;  congratulates 
Cass  on  resignation  from  cabinet, 
345. 

Chase,  Salmon  P. ,  his  estimate  of  slav 
ery  question,  234  ;  writes  platform 
at  Buffalo  Convention,  253  ;  elected 
to  Senate,  264  ;  his  speech  on  com 
promise,  279. 

Cherokees,  decision  of  Supreme  Court 
concerning,  161. 

Christiancy,  Isaac  P.,  writes  call  for 
Republican  Convention,  305. 

Clarendon,  Lord,  announces  political 
accord  of  France  and  England,  315; 
denies  any  reference  to  Cuba,  315. 

Clark,  Governor  James,  makes  treaty 
with  Indians,  126  ;  cooperates  with 
Cass  in  outlining  Indian  policy,  129. 

Clay,  Henry,  leader  of  war  party  in 
1812,  55  ;  boasts  of  future  conquest 
of  Canada,  59,  80  ;  introduces  com 
promise  tariff,  151 ;  compared  with 
Cass  in  debate,  194  ;  his  journey  in 
South,  200  ;  undisputed  leadership 
of  Whig  party  in  1843,  207,  208  ; 
writes  letter  against  Texas  annexa 
tion,  212  ;  nominated  by  acclama 
tion,  216  ;  might  have  won,  220  ; 
weakens  hold  on  North  by  Alabama 
letter,  221 ;  carries  Ohio,  223  ;  de 
feated  in  election,  223  ;  discarded 
as  a  candidate  in  1848,  246,  248  ;  in 
troduces  compromise  resolutions, 
276  ;  begs  senators  to  refrain  from 
debate,  276  ;  aided  by  Cass,  281  ; 
his  aims  identical  with  Cass's,  353, 
365. 

Cobb,  Howell,  secretary  of  treasury, 


376 


INDEX 


328 ;  his  conduct  during  process  of 
secession,  340  ;  resigns,  345. 

Coles,  Edward,  moves  from  Virginia 
to  Illinois,  his  anti-slavery  influ 
ence,  309. 

Compromise  of  1850,  introduced,  its 
provisions,  276  ;  debate  on,  276-283  ; 
re-introduced,  280,  281 ;  Cass's  opin 
ion  of,  281  ;  adopted,  283 ;  really 
hastens  Rebellion,  284  ;  extolled  by 
Cass  and  others,  286 ;  declared  a 
finality  by  Whig  and  Democratic 
parties,  289,  290. 

Connecticut  Land  Company,  surveys 
Western  Reserve,  5. 

Constitutional  Union  party,  nominates 
Bell  for  president,  its  character, 
339. 

Crandall,  Prudence,  178. 

Crawford,  W.  H.,  betrays  Calhoun  to 
Jackson, 133. 

Creeks,  plan  to  remove  to  the  West, 
159,  162. 

Crittenden,  J.  J.,  attacks  Allen,  228. 

Croghan,  Colonel  George,  his  reply  to 
threat  of  massacre,  80,  86. 

Cuba,  its  annexation  desired  by  South, 
313;  refusal  of  United  States  to 
guarantee  not  to  acquire  it,  313; 
Ostend  Manifesto  concerning,  313, 
314 ;  Cass's  opinion  of,  315. 

Cutler,  Manasseh,  opposes  entrance 
of  Ohio  into  Union,  44. 

DALLAS,  GEORGE  M.,  candidate  for 
vice-presidency,  219 ;  describes  in 
terview  with  Lord  Malmesbury,  334. 

Dalliby,  Captain,  asks  permission  to 
fire  on  English,  76. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  says  Missouri  Com 
promise  was  erased  in  1850,  294; 
his  view  of  Douglas's  non-interfer 
ence,  294,  295. 

Davis,  John,  talks  Wilmot  Proviso  to 
death,  232. 

Dayton,  William  L.,  nominated  by 
Republicans  for  vice-president,  322. 

Dearborn,  Henry  A.  S.,  presides  over 
Hull  court-martial,  82;  partly  to 
blame  for  Hull's  surrender,  83. 

Democratic  party,  its  inconsistent 
principles  and  practices  under  Jack 
son,  152,  162;  popular  in  North 


west,  156-158;  Cass's  popularity 
with,  in  1843,  201 ;  movement  in, 
to  nominate  Cass,  201  ;  •  interrogates 
candidates  for  nomination,  202;  tired 
of  Van  Buren  as  a  candidate, 
205 ;  controlled  at  convention  by 
Southern  wing,  217  ;  apparently  con 
trolled  by  Van  Buren  men,  217; 
adopts  two-thirds  rule,  217 ;  nomi 
nates  Polk,  218,  219;  its  double- 
faced  campaign,  220 ;  its  mass 
meetings,  222 ;  carries  Northwest, 
223;  significance  of  its  election, 
224 ;  demands  re-occupation  of  Ore 
gon,  226 ;  favors  nomination  of 
Cass,  235,  240  ;  New  York  factions 
of,  240 ;  at  national  convention  of 
fers  to  admit  both  Barnburners 
and  Hunkers,  243  ;  nominates  Cass 
and  Butler,  243;  its  policy  toward 
slavery,  244 ;  condemns  abolition 
agitation,  244;  rejects  Calhoun's 
non  -  interference,  244,  245  ;  de 
nounces  Van  Buren,  252  ;  hampered 
by  Free-Soil  nominations,  254  ;  and 
by  Cass's  attitude  on  internal  im 
provements,  260 ;  members  of,  in 
South,  favor  Taylor,  261 ;  defeated 
by  loss  of  New  York  through  Barn 
burners,  261 ;  relation  of  Northern 
and  Southern  wings  of,  after  1848, 
265;  its  condition  in  1852,  287; 
at  national  convention  nominates 
Pierce,  288  ;  indorses  finality  of  com 
promise,  289 ;  its  great  victory  in 
election,  291,  293  ;  Northern  mem 
bers  of,  repudiate  Nebraska  bill,  300 ; 
advocates  filibustering  in  Nicara 
gua,  316  ;  nominates  Buchanan,  321 ; 
its  platform,  322;  gains  election 
through  the  South,  323 ;  has  a  ma 
jority  in  Pennsylvania  only  of  North 
ern  States,  323;  factions  of,  in 
1860,  330;  Northern  wing  of,  no 
minates  Douglas,  338 ;  Southern 
wing  nominates  Breckinridge,  339. 

Denonville,  Governor,  on  the  fur 
trade,  8 ;  asks  Du  Lhut  to  fortify 
Straits,  9. 

Detroit,  its  settlement,  3,  14,  15 ;  its 
character,  16  ;  life  in,  under  French 
regime,  16,  17  ;  its  conservatism, 
16,  17 ;  slow  entrance  of  American 


INDEX 


377 


life  into,  18,  19 ;  mediaeval  traits  of, 
19  ;  held  by  English  until  1796,  32, 
33 ;  in  Hull's  invasion  of  Canada, 
61,  63,  74,  75  ;  attack  upon,  76-78  ; 
surrendered,  79  ;  recovery,  88  ;  mil 
itary  importance  of,  93  ;  return  of 
Cass  to,  in  1843,  200. 

Dickerson,  Mahlon,  asks  Cass  for  his 
political  opinions,  202. 

Dickinson,  Daniel  S.,  suggests  squat 
ter  sovereignty,  235. 

Diplomatic  history,  difficulties  over 
French  spoliation  payments,  167, 
168  ;  final  accommodation,  167,  168  ; 
Cass' s  mission  to  France,  168- 
196;  the  McLeod  affair,  175-178; 
Cass's  protest  against  slave-trade 
treaty,  181,  182,  185;  Ashburton 
treaty,  187,  188;  controversy  be 
tween  Cass  and  Webster  over,  188- 
193  ;  Oregon  negotiations,  227,  229, 
230 ;  events  preceding  Mexican  war, 
231  ;  negotiations  concerning  Cuba, 
313  ;  Ostend  Manifesto,  314  ;  diffi 
culties  over  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty, 
329  ;  correspondence  between  Cass 
and  Napier  over  right  of  visitation, 
331-333  ;  abandonment  of  claim  by 
England,  334,  335 ;  agreement  be 
tween  England,  France,  and  United 
States  over  right  of  search,  335, 
336  ;  difficulties  with  Mexico,  336 ; 
blockade,  doctrine  of,  defined  by 
Cass  in  1859,  337. 

Disunion,  growth  of  feeling  for,  in 
South,  268 ;  Cass's  opinion  of,  271, 
277 ;  threatened,  if  Republican  party 
succeed,  323 ;  carried  out  in  1860, 
340-347;  Cass's  position  on,  341; 
Buchanan's  doctrine  of,  341,  342; 
common-sense  view  of,  342,  343. 

Dixon,  Archibald,  gives  notice  of  re 
peal  of  Missouri  Compromise,  293. 

Dodge,  Henry,  declines  Barnburners' 
nomination  for  vice-presidency,  251. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  anticipated  by 
Cass  in  doctrine  of  squatter  sover 
eignty,  236 ;  candidate  for  presi 
dential  nomination  in  1852,  288; 
introduces  Kansas  -  Nebraska  bill, 
293,  294;  abused  by  both  North 
and  South,  295;  denounced  by 
Sumner,  31 8 ;  replies  to  Sumner, 


319 ;  bitter  retort  of  Sumner  to, 
320  ;  nominated  for  president,  338. 

Draper,  Dr.  John  W.,  on  impossibil 
ity  of  slavery  in  Kansas,  298. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  327. 

Duane,  William  T.,  refuses  to  remove 
deposits,  154. 

Du  Lhut,  establishes  post  on  Lake 
Superior,  9. 

EATON,  JOHN  H.,  resigns  from  cabinet, 
136  ;  his  quarrel  with  Ingham,  137  ; 
plan  to  make  him  senator,  138; 
governor  of  Florida,  138. 

Eaton,  Mrs.  "Peggy,"  refusal  of  so 
ciety  to  recognize,  134  ;  attentions 
of  Van  Buren  to,  134, 135 ;  attempts 
of  Jackson  to  vindicate,  135. 

Elliott,  Commodore  Jesse  Duncan, 
voyage  of  Cass  with,  170. 

England,  kept  out  of  Northwest  by 
"coureurs  des  bois,"  9;  after  1763 
becomes  patron  of  Indians,  32  ;  em 
ploys  them  as  allies,  32,  33 ;  holds 
frontier  posts  until  1796,  32,  33  ;  ne 
cessity  of  counteracting  its  influ 
ence  over  Indians,  33  ;  partisanship 
of  Federalists  for,  53, 54  ;  war  with, 
popular  in  Northwest,  56  ;  intrigues 
with  Indians  in  years  before  war, 
56,  58  ;  continues  until  1840  to  re 
tard  American  growth  in  Northwest 
by  instigating  Indians,  49,  111,  112 ; 
slow  to  realize  strength  or  growth 
of  United  States,  99,  100 ;  hopes  to 
reabsorb  States,  101  ;  continues  to 
search  vessels  on  Lake  Erie,  101 ; 
defied  by  Cass  in  Vidal  case,  103- 
105  ;  its  policy  to  pose  as  protector 
of  Indians,  105-109  ;  its  policy  at  a 
grand  council  described  by  Mrs. 
Jameson,  113,  114  ;  visited  by  Cass, 
his  impressions,  170  ;  boundary  dis 
putes  with,  175  ;  demands  release  of 
McLeod  on  threat  of  war,  176 ;  its 
war  preparations  described  by  Cass, 
177 ;  signs  treaty  to  suppress  slave 
trade,  179  ;  suspected  of  attempting 
to  justify  claims  to  right  of  search, 
179;  attacked  by  Cass  in  a  pam 
phlet,  180 ;  justice  of  its  position, 
180,  181  ;  annoyed  at  rejection  of 
treaty  by  France,  182 ;  renews 


378 


INDEX 


claim  to  right  of  visitation,  187, 
188,  190,  191;  its  alleged  designs 
upon  Texas,  212, 213  ;  rejects  Buch 
anan's  offer  of  a  compromise  in  Ore 
gon,  227 ;  danger  of  war  with,  227, 
228  ;  alarmed  at  threat  of  war,  230  ; 
accepts  forty-ninth  parallel  as 
boundary,  230;  suggests  that  Uni 
ted  States  join  in  a  pledge  not  to 
acquire  Cuba,  313  ;  held  by  Cass  to 
oppose  American  acquisition,  315; 
quibbles  over  Clayton  -  Bulwer 
treaty,  316  ;  searches  slave-traders 
in  American  waters,  330,  331 ;  con 
troversy  with  Cass  over  right  of 
search,  331-333  ;  abandons  right  of 
search,  334-336  ;  demands  apology 
for  seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell 
from  the  Trent,  354  ;  threatens  war, 
354. 

Eustis,  William,  approves  Hull's  pro 
clamation,  69. 

Everett,  Edward,  nominated  for  vice- 
presidency,  339. 

FEDERALISTS,  oppose  admission  of 
Ohio,  44  ;  plan  to  make  Burr  presi 
dent,  53  ;  oppose  Jefferson's  foreign 
policy,  53,  54. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  nominated  for  vice- 
president,  248  ;  favors  compromise, 
282  ;  on  finality  of  compromise,  287  ; 
candidate  for  nomination  in  1852, 
289  ;  nominated  by  Know-Nothings, 
322. 

Findlay,  James,  commands  Ohio  mili 
tia,  60  ;  wishes  to  depose  Hull,  72. 

Florida,  Jackson's  career  in,  133 ; 
Eaton  governor  of,  138  ;  Seminole 
war  in,  162-164 ;  slave  trade  with, 
330. 

Floyd,  John  B.,  secretary  of  war 
under  Buchanan,  328  ;  aids  seces 
sionists,  340  ;  on  Cass's  willingness 
to  coerce  seceding  States,  341  ; 
openly  disowns  secession,  341. 

Foote,  Henry  S.,  offers  resolution  to 
organize  Territories,  272. 

Force  Bill,  recommended  by  Jackson, 
150  ;  its  provisions  and  effect,  150, 
151. 

Ford,  Governor  Seabury,  describes  po 
litical  methods  in  Northwest,  157. 


France,  discourages  colonization,  15 ; 
its  absurd  policy  toward  colonies, 
15 ;  partisanship  of  Jeffersonians 
for,  54  ;  agrees  but  fails  to  pay  for 
spoliations,  167 ;  threatened  by 
Jackson,  167  ;  rupture  of  diplo 
matic  relations  with,  167  ;  finally 
pays,  167,  168  ;  mission  of  Cass  to, 
as  minister,  168-196  ;  social  duties 
of  minister  in,  168,  169  ;  Cass's  ob 
servations  on,  169,  173,  175  ;  signs 
treaty  to  suppress  slave  trade,  179  ; 
at  Cass's  suggestion,  refuses  to  ratify 
treaty,  181  ;  later  agrees  to  keep 
fleet  on  African  coast,  182 ;  sug 
gests  to  United  States  to  join  in 
guaranteeing  Cuba  to  Spain,  313. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  mission  to 
French  court,  169. 

Free-Soil  party,  suggested  by  dissatis 
fied  Whigs,  251  ;  by  Free  Territory 
Convention  in  Ohio,  251 ;  by  Barn 
burners  at  Utica,  251 ;  formed  at 
Buffalo  Convention,  252-254;  ele 
ments  of,  252;  not  a  Democratic 
movement,  252  ;  its  platform,  253 ; 
nominates  Van  Buren  and  Adams, 
253,  254;  its  vote  in  1848  and  its 
significance,  256,  257,  259, 260 ;  holds 
balance  of  power,  259;  denounced 
for  not  favoring  Compromise,  285 ; 
nominates  Hale  and  Julian,  290 ;  its 
vote  in  1852,  290  ;  denounces  repeal 
of  Missouri  Compromise,  301. 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  nominated 
for  vice-president,  216. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  nominated  by  Re 
publicans,  322;  his  fitness  for  can 
didacy,  323. 

French,  explore  the  West,  3,  4;  at 
tempt  to  convert  Indians,  4;  kept 
out  of  Ohio  by  Iroquois,  5  ;  settle  in 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  6,  7 ;  de 
sire  fur  trade,  7 ;  their  methods  of 
trading,  8-10 ;  assume  Indian  habits, 
10 ;  beloved  by  Indians,  11  ;  form  a 
stagnant  element  in  Northwest,  11, 
12;  their  life,  12;  discouraged  by 
government,  15 ;  gregarious  methods 
of  settlement,  17,  21 ;  their  manners, 
20,  21 ;  "  pipe-stem "  farms,  21 ; 
laziness,  21 ;  love  of  sport,  21,  23, 
24;  clumsy  farming  methods,  22, 


INDEX 


379 


23,  26  ;  social  life,  23,  24  ;  other 
classes  of  half-breeds,  25,  26;  their 
stupidity,  25,  26;  their  lack  of  edu 
cation,  27,  28;  dislike  American 
law,  28;  life  centres  around  church, 
29;  less  important  in  Illinois  and 
Indiana  than  in  Michigan,  29;  prob 
lem  of  their  assimilation,  31 ;  averse 
to  taxation,  31;  prostrated  by  war 
of  1812,  89,  90,  96;  hopes  of  Cass  to 
educate,  97. 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  enacted,  283;  its 
effect,  283,  284;  Cass's  approval  of, 
284;  arouses  North,  286;  petitions 
against,  in  Congress,  287. 

Fur  trade,  its  importance,  7,  8;  how 
carried  on,  8-10. 

GARFIELD,  JAMES  A.,  remark  of  Cass 
to,  36;  representative  of  Western 
Reserve,  255,  258. 

Garland  forgery  in  campaign  of  1844, 
221. 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  mobbed  in 
Boston,  178. 

Geary,  John  W.,  governor  of  Kansas, 
324;  resigns,  325. 

Georgia,  upheld  against  Supreme 
Court  by  Jackson  and  Cass,  161. 

Giddings,  Joshua  R.,  points  out  true 
character  of  Seminole  war,  164;  his 
courage,  198;  censured  by  House, 
209;  representative  of  Western  Re 
serve,  254;  on  Fugitive  Slave  Act, 
287. 

Gilman,  Mary,  marries  John  Cass, 
mother  of  Lewis  Cass,  35. 

Greeley,  Horace,  on  effects  of  Fugi 
tive  Slave  Law,  283;  discouraged 
in  1854,  304;  advises  Michigan  anti- 
Nebraska  men  to  adopt  name  Re 
publican,  304  ;  on  Know  -  Nothing 
party,  311. 

Grundy,  Felix,  War  Republican  in 
1812,  55. 

Guizot,  under  Louis  Philippe,  173; 
urged  by  Cass  not  to  ratify  slave- 
trade  treaty,  181. 

HALDIMAN,  GOVERNOR,  on  consumption 

of  rum  in  Detroit,  32. 
Hale,  John  P.,  nominated  by  Liberty 

party,  251 ;  presents  disunion  peti 


tion,  277  ;  nominated  by  Free-Soil 
party,  290. 

Hamilton,  Col.  Henry,  offers  bounties 
on  American  scalps,  32. 

Hamilton,  governor  of  South  Carolina, 
appoints  committee  to  draw  up  or 
dinance  of  nullification,  145. 

Hamliu,  Hannibal,  elected  vice-presi 
dent,  339. 

Hannegan,  E.  A.,  letter  of  Cass  to,  on 
Texas,  213;  on  Folk's  claim  to  Ore 
gon,  228. 

Harcourt,  ,  threatens  war  if  Mc- 

Leod  be  condemned,  176. 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  on  English 
intrigues  with  Indians,  57;  wins 
battle  of  Tippecanoe,  58;  aided  by 
Cass  in  1813,  86;  invades  Canada, 
86;  wins  battle  of  Thames,  87;  com 
pliments  Cass,  87  ;  leaves  Cass  to 
command,  88;  concludes  armistice 
with  Indians,  89;  makes  treaty  of 
alliance  with  Indians,  92;  poses  as 
popular  hero  in  1840,  156;  carries 
Northwest  except  Illinois,  156. 

Harvard  College,  gives  Jackson  a  de 
gree,  153. 

Harvey,  Peter,  tells  fictitious  story  of 
Cass's  confession  of  defeat  to  Web 
ster,  192,  193. 

Heald,  Captain,  ordered  by  Hull  to 
evacuate  Fort  Dearborn,  81. 

Heileman,  Major,  in  command  at 
Charleston,  146. 

Hildreth,  Richard,  quoted,  64. 

House  of  Representatives,  passes  Wil- 
mot  Proviso,  232,  233;  its  struggle 
to  elect  a  'speaker  in  1849,  272 ;  fails 
to  expel  Brooks  after  his  assault  on 
Sumner,  321. 

Howard,  Jacob  M.,  letter  of  Greeley 
to,  on  name  Republican,  304 ;  writes 
platform  for  new  party,  305. 

Howard,  William  A.,  on  committee  to 
visit  Kansas,  317. 

Hudson  Bay  Company,  9. 

Hull,  Governor  William,  on  ancestry 
of  Canadians,  14 ;  his  failure  in  civil 
office,  61;  after  hesitation,  accepts 
command  of  force  to  invade  Canada, 
61 ;  urged  to  go  to  Detroit,  61  ;  his 
baggage  captured,  62;  his  conduct 
defended  by  descendants,  62;  com- 


380 


INDEX 


plains  of  militia,  63;  his  force,  64 ; 
refuses  to  invade  Canada  until  or 
dered  to,  65;  enters  Canada  with 
forebodings,  66,  67;  continues  inac 
tive,  70 ;  his  indecision,  71 ;  refuses 
to  follow  up  Cass's  success,  72;  fails 
to  announce  war  to  garrison  at 
Mackinac,  72,  73;  dreads  Indian 
warfare,  73;  forced  to  send  troops 
to  aid  Brush,  74  ;  announces  an  at 
tack,  then  retreats,  74;  wishes  to 
abandon  Detroit,  74;  orders  Miller 
back  to  Detroit  after  his  victory, 
75;  refuses  to  allow  Dalliby  to  fire 
on  English  fort,  76;  refuses  Brock's 
demand  for  surrender,  77;  appalled 
with  fear  of  Indians,  78;  surrenders, 
79;  includes  all  forces  in  surrender, 
80;  numbers  of  his  force,  80,  81;  or 
ders  evacuation  of  Fort  Dearborn, 
81;  released  on  parole,  82;  sacrificed 
by  administration,  82,  83;  really 
deserves  condemnation  by  court- 
martial,  83;  his  sentence,  84;  later 
years,  84. 

Hunkers,  their  origin  as  Polk  faction 
in  New  York,  241;  control  Demo 
cratic  state  convention  and  reject 
anti-slavery  resolution,  242;  at  De 
mocratic  convention,  243;  support 
Cass  and  become  "regular"  party 
in  New  York,  243. 

ILLINOIS,  retarded  by  French  occu 
pancy,  2,  29;  Indian  war  alarm  in, 
128;  Black  Hawk  war  in,  141; 
strongly  Democratic,  156-158;  car 
ried  by  Republicans  in  1854,  308; 
analysis  of  vote  in,  308,  309;  carried 
by  Democrats  in  1856,  323;  votes 
for  Lincoln  in  1860,  339. 

Indiana,  retarded  by  French  occu 
pancy,  2;  but  less  so  than  Michigan, 
29;  admitted  to  Union  as  a  State, 
115;  Democrats  of ,  favor  nomination 
of  Cass,  201 ;  carried  by  Republicans 
in  1854,  308;  carried  by  Buchanan 
in  1856,  323;  votes  for  Lincoln  in 
1860,  339. 

Indians,  attempts  of  French  to  con 
vert,  4;  rivalry  of  English  and 
French  for  fur  trade  with,  7,  8; 
drenched  with  brandy,  8;  friendly 


with  French,  10;  regret  their  defeat, 
11;  trade  in  Detroit,  18;  protected 
by  English,  32;  encouraged  to  op 
pose  Americans,  32;  continue  de 
pendent  upon  English,  33 ;  campaign 
of  Wayne  against,  38;  English  in 
trigues  with,  before  war  of  1812, 
56-58;  Harrison's  campaign  against, 
57,  58;  their  alliance  not  sought  by 
United  States,  58;  alarmed  at  Hull's 
invasion  of  Canada,  70;  in  English 
army,  opposed  to  Hull,  73,  76,  78, 
81 ;  massacre  garrison  of  Fort  Dear 
born,  81;  in  massacre  at  Raisin,  85; 
ravage  Michigan,  86,  88,  91;  spare 
lives  of  French,  89;  punished  by 
Cass,  91,  92;  make  treaty  of  alliance 
with  Cass  and  Harrison,  92;  contin 
ued  subsidizing  of,  by  English,  99, 
100,  111,  112;  protected  by  English, 
102, 105-108;  refusal  of  Cass  to  per 
mit  meddling  with,  106, 107;  efforts 
of  Cass  to  detach  from  English  al 
liance,  110;  Grand  Council  of,  de 
scribed,  113,  114;  all  under  Cass's 
supervision,  115;  cede  land  by 
treaty,  116;  Cass's  interview  with, 
at  Sault  de  St.  Marie,  118-120;  re 
fuse  to  agree  to  an  American  garri 
son,  118,  119;  overawed  by  Cass's 
courage,  119,  120;  further  boundary 
treaties  with,  126,  127;  war  with,  in 
1827,  averted  by  Cass's  energy,  127- 
129;  plan  for  treatment  of,  made  by 
Cass,  129;  reasons  for  Cass's  success 
with,  130-132;  efforts  of  Cass  to  re 
duce  drunkenness  among,  130,  131; 
their  respect  for  Cass,  131 ;  removal 
of,  to  West,  159-161;  essays  of  Cass 
upon,  363. 

Ingham,  Samuel  D.,  resigns  from  Jack 
son's  cabinet,  137 ;  his  quarrel  with 
Eaton,  137. 

Internal  improvements,  demand  for, 
in  West,  260  ;  Cass's  position  on, 
260  ;  in  campaign  of  1848,  260. 

Irish  in  New  York,  favor  Calhoun, 
206;  belong  to  Democratic  party, 
their  reasons,  207. 

Iroquois,  results  of  failure  of  French 
to  convert,  4. 

JACKSON,  ANDREW,  reconstructs  cabi- 


INDEX 


381 


net,  133-138 ;  his  quarrel  with  Cal- 
houn,  133 ;  his  character,  134,  135  ; 
tries  to  force  Mrs.  Eaton  upon  so 
ciety,  134-136  ;  his  friendship  for 
Van  Buren,  136 ;  not  a  demagogue, 
138 ;  but  used  by  spoils  politicians, 
139;  significance  of  his  election, 
140.;  his  obstinacy,  140,  141;  di 
rected  by  others,  141 ;  takes  mili 
tary  precautions  against  nullifica 
tion,  146  ;  his  annual  message,  147  ; 
remark  on  impossibility  of  nullifi 
cation,  147  ;  intends  to  seize  Cal- 
houn,  148;  issues  proclamation, 
148 ;  anxious  to  avoid  a  conflict, 
149,  150  ;  asks  for  authority  to  en 
force  laws,  150;  signs  compromise 
tariff  and  Force  Bill,  151  ;  admi 
ration  of  Cass  for,  152,  153 ;  his 
Northern  tour  in  1833,  153 ;  attacks 
bank,  his  motives,  153  ;  his  indiffer 
ence  to,  and  ignorance  of,  finance, 
153 ;  removes  deposits,  153,  154 ; 
persuades  Cass  not  to  resign,  155 ; 
his  popularity  in  Northwest,  157, 
158 ;  upheld  by  Cass  in  his  favor 
ing  Georgia  against  Supreme  Court, 
161 ;  enraged  at  failures  in  Semi- 
nole  war,  163  ;  said  to  have  been  an 
noyed  at  Cass's  indecision,  165  ;  his 
friendly  relations  with  Cass,  165, 
166  ;  threatens  France,  167  ;  writes 
letter  in  favor  of  Texas  annexation, 
213  ;  writes  in  favor  of  Van  Buren. 
213  ;  praised  by  Cass,  213  ;  the  coun 
try's  one  dictator,  246  ;  gives  Cass 
historical  papers,  364. 

James,  Colonel,  correspondence  with 
Cass,  102 ;  complains  of  murder  of 
an  Indian,  105  ;  sharp  reply  of  Cass 
to,  106  ;  censured  by  Cass  for  push 
ing  Indian  claims,  107,  108  ;  asserts 
rights  of  British  Indian  allies  in 
United  States,  109. 

Jameson,  Mrs.  Anna,  contrasts  Cana 
dians  with  Yankees,  20  ;  describes 
Indian  council  at  Manitoulin,  113, 
114. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  his  relation  to 
Rousseau,  43,  44  ;  sends  agent  to 
investigate  Burr's  schemes,  49 ; 
issues  proclamation  against  them, 
50 ;  his  reply  to  Ohio  resolutions  of 


support,  50  ;  suggests  removing  all 
Western  postmasters,  50 ;  gratitude 
to  Cass,  51 ;  his  foreign  policy,  54 ; 
author  of  nullification,  144  ;  Cass  a 
follower  of,  202 ;  less  of  a  dictator 
than  Jackson,  246. 

Jesuits,  try  to  convert  Indians,  4 ; 
discourage  colonization,  15. 

Johnson,  Herschel  V.,  nominated  for 
vice-president,  338. 

Johnson,  Colonel  K.  M.,  kills  Tecum- 
seh,  87;  in  Eaton  affair,  135;  can 
didate  for  nomination  in  1844,  201, 
202,  206;  his  character  and  ambi 
tions,  206  ;  vote  for,  in  convention, 
218. 

Jones,  Commodore  Jacob,  describes 
gold  mania  in  California,  263. 

Julian,  George  W.,  nominated  for 
vice-president,  290. 

KANSAS,  struggle  for,  316-318,  324- 
326;  seized  by  Missouri  ruffians, 
317  ;  applies  for  admission  under 
Free  State  Constitution,  317  ;  de 
bate  over,  in  Senate,  317,  318  ;  its 
admission  advocated  by  Republi 
cans,  322 ;  successive  governors  in, 

324,  325;    warfare    in,    324,    325; 
pacified    by    R.    J.    Walker,    325; 
chooses   a   Free    State  legislature, 
325 ;  attempt  to  force  Lecompton 
constitution    on,    325;    rejects    it, 
325  ;    refused  admission  by  South, 

325,  326 ;  saved  by  popular  sover 
eignty,  326. 

Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  introduced  by 
Douglas  in  1854,  293;  repeals  Mis 
souri  Compromise,  294;  Cass's 
speech  on,  297;  passed  and  signed, 
298  ;  causes  outbreak  at  North,  300. 

Kendall,  Amos,  succeeds  Barry  as 
postmaster-general,  137. 

Kentucky,  furious  at  Hull's  surren 
der,  85;  sends  army  to  be  massacred 
at  River  Raisin,  85. 

King,  William  R.,  nominated  for  vice- 
president  in  1852,  288. 

Know-Nothing  party,  its  principles, 
309;  attracts  dissatisfied  Whigs  and 
Democrats,  310  ;  enters  politics  in 
1854,  310  ;  its  success  in  border 
States,  310;  impossible  of  success, 


382 


INDEX 


311 ;  views  of  Cass  upon,  311,  312; 
nominates  Fillmore  in  1856,  322  ; 
carries  Maryland,  323. 

LA  HONTAN,  BARON  DE,  describes  car 
goes  of  women  sent  to  Canada,  14. 

Lands,  public,  in  Michigan,  efforts  of 
Cass  to  promote  sale  of,  97,  98; 
Cass's  view  of,  203. 

Lane,  Joseph,  nominated  for  vice- 
president,  339. 

La  Salle,  takes  possession  of  Missis 
sippi  valley,  6. 

Legare",  Hugh  S.,  secretary  of  state 
under  Tyler,  211. 

Leigh,  B.  W.,  sent  by  Virginia  as  en 
voy  to  South  Carolina,  150. 

Levant,  Casa's  tour  in,  170-172. 

Lewis,  William  B.,  dissuades  Cass 
from  resigning  from  Jackson's  cabi 
net,  154. 

Liberty  party,  its  vote  in  1840,  179, 
208  ;  its  attitude  toward  Whig  abo 
litionists,  209;  nominates  Birney  in 
1844,  221  ;  attacks  Clay  as  an  an- 
nexationist,  221;  holds  balance  of 
power  in  New  York  and  Michigan, 
222;  execrated  by  Whigs,  222  ;  nom 
inates  Hale,  251;  members  of,  at 
Buffalo  convention,  252,  254. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  takes  proper  view 
of  slavery  question,  234 ;  nomi 
nated  and  elected  president,  339. 

Livingston,  Edward,  secretary  of  state, 
137;  writes  nullification  proclama 
tion,  148  ;  breaks  off  diplomatic  re 
lations  with  France,  167. 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  describes  Cass's 
reception  of  news  of  secession,  347. 

Louis  XIV.,  his  efforts  to  develop 
and  control  Canada,  7,  8,  9. 

Louis  Philippe,  dreads  war  with  Amer 
ica,  168  ;  friendly  to  United  States, 
168;  appreciates  American  charac 
ter,  168  ;  his  character,  173 ;  lacks 
courage  and  decision,  173  ;  life  of, 
written  by  Cass,  174, 175. 

McARTHUR,  DUNCAN,  commands  Ohio 
militia,  60;  informed  of  beginning 
of  war,  62 ;  wishes  to  depose  Hull, 
72;  sent  to  aid  Brush,  77;  included 
in  Hull's  surrender,  79;  testimony 


in  Hull  court-martial,  83  ;  makes 
treaties  with  Indians,  116. 

McDuffle,  George,  in  House,  predicts 
disunion,  143. 

McKenney,  Thomas  L.,  on  tour  with 
Cass  among  Indians,  126,  127. 

McLane,  Louis,  secretary  of  treasury, 
137;  opposed  to  removal  of  depos 
its,  154. 

McLane,  Robert  M.,  Cass's  letter  to, 
on  Monroe  doctrine,  336. 

McLeod,  Alexander,  arrested  for  par 
ticipation  in  Caroline  affair,  176  ; 
his  release  made  a  political  question 
by  England,  176;  acquitted,  178. 

Macomb,  Major-General,  warns  com 
mander  at  Charleston  against  at 
tack,  146. 

Madison,  James,  obliged  to  advocate 
war  of  1812,  54;  driven  by  South 
and  West,  55;  his  incompetent  con 
duct  of  war,  62;  his  proclamation 
satirized,  68;  pardons  Hull,  84 ; 
appoints  Cass  governor  of  Michigan, 
88;  advises  Congress  not  to  grant 
bounty  lands  in  Michigan,  98. 

Maine,  carried  by  Republicans,  308. 

Malmesbury,  Lord,  agrees  with  Dal 
las  to  abandon  right  of  search,  334, 
335. 

Marcy,  W.  L.,  candidate  for  nomina 
tion  in  1852,  288. 

Marshall,  John,  defied  by  Jackson, 
161. 

Martineau,  Harriet,  describes  half- 
breeds,  25;  charmed  by  scenery  of 
Michigan,  99. 

Maryland,  carried  by  Know-Nothings 
in  1856,  323. 

Mason,  J.  Y.,  connection  with  Ost- 
end  Manifesto,  313. 

Massachusetts,  settlers  from,  in  Michi 
gan,  124;  visit  of  Cass  to,  in  1842, 
197;  "conscience"  and  "cotton" 
Whigs  in,  249. 

Meigs,  R.  J.,  law  studies  of  Cass  with, 
42  ;  a  Jeffersonian,  44  ;  sends  rein 
forcements  to  Hull,  73 ;  urged  by 
Cass  to  come  and  assume  command 
in  place  of  Hull,  75, 76. 

Mexico,  bullied  by  Upshur,  211 ;  forced 
into  war  by  Folk's  administration, 
231;  difficulties  with,  in  Buchanan's 


INDEX 


383 


administration,  336;  revolutions  in, 
336. 

Michigan,  slowness  of  American  set 
tlement,  2;  labors  of  Cass  to  Ameri 
canize,  2;  late  development  of  self- 
government  in,  3;  settled  by  French, 
6,  14;  results,  6,  7;  fur  trade  in,  7; 
typified  by  Detroit,  18 ;  life  of 
French  in,  19-31;  lack  of  education 
in,  27 ;  influence  of  Cass  upon  Amer 
icanization  of,  30,  31;  Hull's  gov 
ernorship  of,  61;  raises  militia 
companies  to  aid  Hull,  63,  64;  rav 
aged  by  Indians,  86,  88;  Cass's 
governorship  of,  88-132;  destitu 
tion  in,  after  war,  89,  90;  efforts  of 
Cass  to  relieve,  90, 91,  96;  freed  from 
Indian  ravages,  91,  92,  94;  Cass's 
efforts  to  Americanize,  95;  bounty 
lands  selected  in,  97;  reported  by 
surveyors  a  barren  waste,  98;  pro 
gress  hindered  by  this  error,  98; 
land  office  opened  in,  98;  its  dimen 
sions,  115;  Indians  cede  land  in, 
116;  explored  by  Cass  and  School- 
craft,  118-122;  its  progress  to  self- 
government,  122,  123;  builds  roads, 
123;  democratic  feeling  in,  encour 
aged  by  Cass,  124;  public  education 
in,  124,  125;  demands  admission  as 
a  State,  155;  a  Democratic  State 
except  in  1840,  155;  immigration 
into,  158;  enthusiasm  over  Cass  in 
1842,  200,  201;  Liberty  party  vote 
in,  222;  elects  Cass  to  Senate,  225; 
favors  Wilmot  Proviso,  233,  234; 
adopts  township  system,  255;  kept 
in  Democratic  party  by  Cass,  256; 
popularity  of  Cass  in,  258,  259; 
Free-Soil  vote  in,  259;  passes  Wil 
mot  Proviso  resolutions,  266,  269; 
reelects  Cass,  266,  269;  rescinds 
Wilmot  Proviso  instructions  to 
Cass,  278;  sentiment  in,  favors  com 
promise,  282,  283;  reelects  Cass, 
286;  Free-Soil  vote  in,  290;  move 
ment  in,  toward  new  party,  304, 305; 
forms  Republican  party,  its  plat 
form,  305;  campaign  of  1854  in,  306- 
308;  carried  by  Republicans,  307; 
instructs  senators  to  vote  against 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  312;  carried  by 
Republicans,  324;  elects  Chandler 


to  succeed  Case,  324;  carried  by 
Lincoln,  339 ;  popular  honors  in,  to 
Cass,  355,  356. 

Miller,  Colonel  Morris  S.,  commands 
regular  infantry  under  Hull,  61; 
successful  expedition  into  Canada, 
71;  refuses  to  assume  responsibil 
ity,  72 ;  successful  action  with  Eng 
lish  and  Indians,  75 ;  asks  for  provi 
sions,  75;  ordered  back  to  Detroit, 
75;  gives  up  Vidal  to  Cass,  103. 

Miller,  Senator,  regrets  Cass's  oppo 
sition  to  Wilmot  Proviso,  234. 

Missouri,  sends  ruffians  into  Kansas, 
317. 

Missouri  Compromise,  extension  of 
its  line  suggested  in  1847,  239;  sug 
gested  again  in  1849,  265  ;  repealed 
by  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  294. 

Monroe,  James,  letter  of  Cass  to,  on 
troubles  with  English,  108;  pro 
poses  removal  of  Indians  to  West, 
160. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  his  mission  to 
France,  169;  contemptible  treat 
ment  of,  by  Louis  Philippe,  173. 

NAPIER,  LORD  CHARLES,  letter  of  Cass 
to,  on  right  of  search,  331-333. 

New  England,  emigrants  from,  in 
Detroit,  19,  158;  its  attitude  toward 
England  and  France,  53,  54;  dam 
aged  by  Jefferson's  policy  of  em 
bargo,  54;  favored  by  tariff,  142; 
influence  of  emigrants  from,  upon 
politics  of  Northwest,  254-258;  upon 
township  system,  255. 

New  Hampshire,  its  ratification  of 
Constitution  described  by  Cass, 
36,  37  ;  paper-money  craze  in,  37; 
adopts  Wilrnot  Proviso  resolutions, 
233. 

New  Jersey,  passes  Wilmot  Proviso 
resolutions,  233;  carried  by  Demo 
crats  in  1856,  323;  divided  in  1860, 
339. 

New  Mexico,  needs  territorial  govern 
ment,  265 ;  organized,  283. 

New  York,  held  by  Iroquois  against 
French,  4;  emigrants  from,  in  Mich 
igan,  124,  156;  spoils  system  in,  139; 
arrests  McLeod,  176;  refuses  to 
surrender  him,  176;  acquits  him, 


384 


INDEX 


178;  visit  of  Cass  to,  in  1842,  197; 
popularity  of  Calhoun  in,  206,  207; 
Liberty  party  vote  in  1844,  222; 
passes  Wilmot  Proviso  resolutions, 
233;  factions  in  Democrats  of,  240- 
242;  carried  by  Whigs,  243;  decides 
election  of  1848,  261;  collapse  of 
Free-Soilers  in,  290,  291. 

"  New  York  Herald,"  advocates  Cass 
for  president  in  1843,  201,  202. 

Nicaragua,  filibustering  in,  315;  ap 
plauded  by  South,  316. 

Nicholson,  A.  O.  P.,  letter  of  Cass  to, 
236. 

Niles,  Hezekiah,  on  British  intrigues 
with  Indians,  112;  approves  Cass's 
letter  on  slave-trade  treaty,  181 ;  on 
Cass's  candidacy  for  nomination, 
186. 

North,  Jackson's  tour  in,  153;  ceases 
to  persecute  abolitionists,  178 ;  pop 
ularity  of  Cass  in,  197-200;  begins 
to  resent  subserviency  to  slavery, 
198,  199;  fails  to  understand  cause 
of  Texas  annexation,  211,  212;  favors 
Wilmot  Proviso,  233;  affected  by 
Webster's  7th  of  March  speech, 
278,  279 ;  exasperated  by  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  284;  conservative  reac 
tion  in,  285,  286,  290;  denounces 
Douglas  for  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
295,  300;  old  parties  in,  fall  to  pieces, 
300;  sends  emigrants  to  contest 
Kansas  with  South,  300;  votes  for 
Lincoln  in  1860,  339;  repudiates 
Buchanan's  doctrines  of  secession, 
342;  paralyzed  during  winter  of 
1861,  350;  war  meetings  in,  350- 
353. 

Northwest,  view  of  its  development, 
1,  2;  its  settlement  from  the  East, 
2;  necessity  of  Americanizing,  2,  3; 
its  settlement  by  French,  3-14  ;  ex 
plorations  in,  6;  taken  possession  of 
by  French,  6;  held  for  France  by 
bush-rangers,  8-10;  influenced  by 
presence  of  French,  12;  life  of 
French  habitants  in,  20-24;  influ 
ence  of  Cass  upon,  30,  31 ;  problems 
in,  to  introduce  democracy  and 
counteract  English  influence,  33; 
favors  war  of  1812,  55,  56;  national 
feeling  in,  56;  saved  by  battle  of  the 


Thames,  88;  growth  of,  retarded 
by  English  intrigues  with  Indians, 
100;  all  Indians  in,  controlled  by 
Cass,  115;  explorations  in,  by  Cass, 
117-122;  Indian  treaties  in,  126, 
127;  Black  Hawk  war  in,  141;  chol 
era  in,  141;  Democratic  party 
strength  in,  156;  political  methods 
in,  157,  158;  more  interested  in 
politics  than  in  principles,  158 ;  im 
migration  into,  158,  159;  carried  by 
Polk  in  1844,  223;  demands  Oregon, 
226,  227;  begins  to  grow  anti-slav 
ery,  234,  249;  ceases  to  be  fully 
represented  by  Cass,  254;  influence 
of  New  England  settlers  upon  poli 
tics  of,  255-258;  supports  Cass  in 
election  of  1848,  259;  Free-Soil  vote 
in,  259,  260;  demands  internal  im 
provements,  260;  votes  for  Pierce, 
290;  organizes  Republican  party, 
301;  Union  sentiment  in,  302;  con 
tinues  to  furnish  Republican  lead 
ers,  302;  less  bound  by  commercial 
ties  to  South,  303;  underground 
railroad  in,  303;  votes  for  Lincoln 
in  1860,  339;  Cass  the  representa 
tive  of,  357. 

Nullification,  Calhoun's  theory  of, 
144;  ordinance  of,  adopted  by  South 
Carolina,  145;  Jackson's  opinion  of, 
147;  and  his  proclamation  on,  148. 

O'CoNOB,  CHARLES,  letter  to  Cass,  270. 

Ohio,  held  by  Iroquois  against  French, 
4;  remains  unknown  during  eight 
eenth  century,  5;  early  public  edu 
cation  in,  26,  27;  settlement  of, 
after  treaty  of  Greenville,  40;  char 
acter  of  immigrants,  40,  41,  43; 
democracy  in,  43;  adopts  a  consti 
tution,  44;  its  entrance  into  Union 
opposed  by  Federalists,  44;  frontier 
law  practice  in,  45-47;  investigates 
and  checks  Burr's  conspiracy,  49, 
50;  impeaches  judges  for  declaring 
a  law  unconstitutional,  52;  raises 
regiments  in  war  of  1812,  60;  furi 
ous  at  Hull's  surrender,  85;  strength 
of  Whig  party  in,  156;  welcomes 
Cass  in  1843,  200;  carried  by  Clay 
in  1844,  223;  passes  Wilmot  Pro 
viso  resolutions,  233;  free  territory 


INDEX 


385 


convention  in,  251;  influence  of 
New  England  settlers  in,  255;  anti- 
slavery  vote  of,  in  1844  and  1848, 
256,257;  carried  by  Cass,  259 ;  elects 
Chase  to  Senate,  264;  carried  by 
Republicans,  308. 

Oliver,  Mordecai,  on  committee  to 
visit  Kansas,  317. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  territorial  govern 
ment  under,  122;  its  conflict  with 
Cass's  doctrine  of  popular  sover 
eignty,  237 ;  extended  over  Oregon, 
262. 

Oregon,  demand  of  Democrats  and 
Northwest  for,  226  ;  offer  of  Buch 
anan  to  compromise,  227;  com 
promise  rejected  by  England,  227 ; 
danger  of  war  over,  228;  debate  on, 
in  Senate,  228 ;  discussion  of  claims 
to,  229 ;  possession  of,  settled  by 
compromise,  230 ;  given  a  territo 
rial  government,  262. 

Osceola,  sentimental  view  of,  162;  his 
real  wrongs,  162. 

Ostend  Manifesto,  314. 

Owen,  Commodore,  demands  return 
of  Vidal,  104. 

PALMERSTON,  LORD,  demands  release 
of  McLeod,  176. 

Parkman,  Francis,  on  New  France, 
6, 11 ;  aided  by  Cass,  364. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  denies  that  right  of 
search  is  abandoned,  191. 

Pennsylvania,  welcomes  Cass  in  1842, 
200;  favors  Cass  for  presidential 
nomination,  201,  202 ;  favors  Wil- 
mot  Proviso,  233  ;  supports  Cass  in 
1848,  240  ;  emigrants  from,  in  Ohio, 
255 ;  carried  by  Democrats  in  1856, 
323. 

Perry,  Oliver  H.,  victory  on  Lake 
Erie,  86. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  results  of  his  la 
bors,  198. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  nominated  for  pre 
sident  in  1852,  288;  his  character, 
288,  289 ;  approves  compromise, 
289 ;  supported  by  Barnburners,  291; 
proclaims  finality  of  compromise, 
293 ;  signs  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
298. 

Polk,  James  K.,  nominated  by  a  trick 


in  1844,  218,  219 ;  the  first  "  dark 
horse,"  219 ;  derided  by  Whigs, 
219 ;  claimed  to  be  in  favor  of  tariff, 
220;  at  Nashville  meetiug,  222; 
elected,  223 ;  significance  of  his 
election,  224  ;  claims  all  of  Oregon, 
226  ;  not  really  anxious  for  it,  227  ; 
advises  increase  of  army  and  navy, 
230;  drives  Mexico  into  war,  230, 
231 ;  jealous  of  Silas  Wright,  241  ; 
urges  organization  of  new  Territo 
ries  and  extension  of  Missouri  com 
promise  line,  265. 

Popular  sovereignty  in  Territories, 
suggested  by  Dickinson,  235  ;  Cass 
the  real  author  of  doctrine,  235, 
236 ;  outlined  in  Nicholson  letter, 
236,  237  ;  question  of  Cass's  sincer 
ity  in  advocating,  238,  239 ;  ex 
plained  by  Cass  in  1850,  272-275 ; 
its  absurdity,  275,  276;  as  inter 
preted  by  South,  294,  295 ;  its  sig 
nificance  to  Cass  and  Douglas,  295, 
296;  in  Democratic  platform  of 
1856,  322;  its  actual  working  in 
Kansas,  326;  abandoned  by  South, 
326. 

Prevost, ,  letter  of  Brock  to,  70. 

Proctor,  Colonel  Henry  A.,  arrives  at 
Maiden,  73 ;  fails  to  restrain  Indi 
ans,  86;  retreats,  86;  defeated 
Thames,  87. 

Prussia,  signs  treaty  against  slave 
trade,  179. 

QUAKERS,  their  influence  in  Northwest, 
255. 

RANDOLPH,  JOHN,  sarcastic  remark  on 
conquest  of  Canada,  62. 

Reaume,  Justice,  his  arbitrary  law,  13. 

R^collet  fathers,  at  Quebec,  4. 

Reeder,  Andrew  H.,  vetoes  pro-slav 
ery  bills  in  Kansas,  317  ;  removed, 
317. 

Republican  party,  strong  in  Western 
Reserve,  255  ;  why  begun  in  North 
west,  301-303 ;  supposed  beginning 
in  Ripon,  303  ;  planned  for  by  Con 
gressmen,  304  ;  name  suggested  by 
Greeley,  304  ;  carries  Northwest  and 
Maine,  308  ;  nominates  Fremont  and 
Dayton,  its  platform,  322 ;  defeated 


386 


INDEX 


in  election,  323;  carries  Michigan 
and  defeats  Cass  for  reelection,  324  ; 
continues  to  grow,  338  ;  nominates 
and  elects  Lincoln,  339  ;  applauds 
Cass  for  resigning  from  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  345;  Cass's  opinion  of, 
358. 

Rhode  Island,  passes  Wilmot  Proviso 
resolutions,  233. 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  gives  Indians 
presents,  110. 

Russia,  signs  treaty  against  slave 
trade,  179. 

ST.  CLAIE,  ABTHUR,  his  unpopularity 
in  Ohio,  44. 

Saint-Lusson,  at  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie,  6. 

Schley,  Judge  William,  on  aversion  of 
Canadians  to  taxes,  31. 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  on  Cass's 
Northwestern  tour,  117  ;  describes 
departure,  117 ;  names  a  lake  for 
Cass,  121  ;  reports  on  mineral  re 
sources,  121. 

Schuyler,  Eugene,  approves  Cass's 
protest  to  France,  187. 

Scott,  General  Winfield,  sent  to 
Charleston  to  resist  nullifiers,  146 ; 
complimented  by  Cass  on  his  dis 
cretion,  147 ;  again  ordered  to 
Charleston,  148 ;  thinks  civil  war 
imminent,  149 ;  charged  with  inef 
ficiency  in  Seminole  war,  163  ;  over 
shadowed  by  Taylor  in  Mexican 
war,  246 ;  in  Whig  convention  of 
1848,248;  nominated  in  1852,  289; 
defeated,  291. 

Search,  right  of,  controversy  over,  on 
Lake  Erie,  101,  102 ;  protest  of  Cass 
against  recognizing,  in  slave-trade 
suppression,  180-182  ;  Cass's  doc 
trine  of,  superior  to  Webster's,  183  ; 
continues  to  be  exercised  by  Eng 
land,  188,  189, 191 ;  controversy  be 
tween  Cass  and  Webster  over  its 
omission  from  Ashburton  treaty, 
190-193 ;  controversy  of  Cass  with 
Napier  over,  331-334 ;  abandoned 
by  England,  335,  336 ;  involved  in 
Trent  affair,  354. 

Seminoles,  plan  to  remove  to  West, 
159;  war  with,  162-164;  desire  of 
South  for  their  negroes,  162. 


Senate,  ratifies  Ashburton  treaty,  187; 
requests  Tyler  for  correspondence 
between  Cass  and  Webster,  190; 
election  of  Cass  to,  his  place  in, 
225  ;  debates  Oregon  question,  227, 
230;  ratifies  Oregon  treaty,  230; 
debates  Ten-Regiment  bill,  231;  de 
feats  Wilmot  Proviso,  232  ;  debates 
appropriation  bill,  267;  debates 
compromise  of  1850,  276-283;  de 
bates  Kansas  troubles,  317-320  ;  un 
able  to  punish  assault  on  Sunnier, 
321 ;  recognizes  Lecompton  consti 
tution  for  Kansas,  325;  refuses  to 
admit  Kansas  as  a  free  State,  326 ; 
calls  for  information  concerning 
slave  trade,  331. 

Seward,  W.  H.,  refuses  to  give  up 
McLeod,  176  ;  puts  proper  estimate 
on  slavery  question,  234 ;  elected 
to  Senate,  264 ;  his  speech  on  com 
promise,  279,  280  ;  attacked  by  Cass, 
280 ;  optimistic  after  passage  of 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  299  ;  attacked 
by  Cass,  318. 

Shannon,  Wilson,  succeeds  Reeder  as 
governor  of  Kansas,  his  character, 
317 ;  resigns,  324. 

Sherman,  John,  on  committee  to  visit 
Kansas,  317. 

Sibley,  Solomon,  encounters  Cass  in 
Ohio,  42. 

Sickles,  Daniel  E.,  letter  to  Cass,  270. 

Slavery,  attempts  to  introduce  into 
Northwest,  40,  41  ;  not  recognized 
by  South  as  cause  of  weakness,  143 ; 
said  to  be  cause  for  removal  of  In 
dians,  160;  causes  Seminole  war, 
162 ;  enters  politics  under  Van 
Buren  and  Tyler,  178;  movement 
against,  not  understood  by  old 
statesmen,  234;  Calhoun's  theory 
of,  in  Territories,  239  ;  decides  elec 
tion  of  1848,  260  ;  held  by  Cass  to 
be  impossible  in  Kansas,  297,  298 ; 
his  error,  298 ;  deplored  by  Cass  in 
1854,  306. 

Slave  trade,  international  treaty  for 
suppression  of,  179  ;  considered  by 
Cass  to  be  a  mere  pretext  for 
strengthening  England's  claim  to 
right  of  search,  179;  treaty  con 
demned  by  Cass  in  a  pamphlet,  180; 


INDEX 


387 


protested  against,  181 ;  treaty  re 
fused  ratification  by  France,  181  ; 
later  plans  to  put  down,  182  ;  in 
Ashburton  treaty,  188  ;  abolished  in 
District  of  Columbia,  283;  move 
ment  in  South  to  reopen,  with  Af 
rica,  296,  330 ;  attempts  of  England 
to  prevent,  in  American  waters, 
330,  331. 

Smith,  W.  L.  G.,  his  life  of  Cass, 
quoted,  36. 

Soul  6,  Pierre,  his  connection  with 
Ostend  Manifesto,  313,  314. 

South,  sectionally  organized  in  1800, 
53;  brings  on  war  of  1812,  55; 
refuses  to  recognize  slavery  as 
cause  of  inferiority,  143;  desires 
to  seize  slaves  among  Seminoles, 
162;  catechises  Van  Buren,  178; 
its  overbearing  manners,  199  ;  tour 
of  Clay  in,  200  ;  demands  Texas  for 
more  slave  territory,  211 ;  opposes 
Van  Buren  after  his  letter  on  Texas, 
216,  217 ;  gains  control  of  Demo 
cratic  party,  217  ;  not  influenced  by 
Clay's  Alabama  letter,  221 ;  prefers 
Taylor  to  Cass  In  1848,  260,  261 ; 
its  aggressive  policy  alienates  North 
west,  265 ;  furious  at  danger  of  los 
ing  control  of  Territories,  267 ;  be 
gins  to  look  forward  to  disunion, 
268 ;  plan  of  Calhoun  to  protect, 
279;  opposes  admission  of  Califor 
nia,  281 ;  does  not  appreciate  effect 
of  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  284;  its 
peculiar  view  of  popular  sover 
eignty,  294,  295 ;  hopes  to  compete 
with  North  for  Territories,  296; 
advocates  reopening  of  slave  trade, 
296 ;  its  desperation  in  1854,  297 ; 
relies  on  commercial  interests  to 
control  North,  303 ;  denounces  Cass 
for  speaking  disrespectfully  of  slav 
ery,  306 ;  desires  to  annex  Cuba, 
313  ;  favors  filibustering,  316 ;  ap 
plauds  Brooks's  assault  on  Sumner, 
321 ;  recognizes  failure  of  popular 
sovereignty,  326 ;  adopts  Calhoun's 
dogma,  326;  advocates  reopening 
of  slave  trade,  330 ;  plans  to  secede 
in  1860,  340 ;  aided  by  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  340. 

South  Carolina,  opposes  tariff,  142; 


threatens  nullification,  143,  144; 
calls  state  convention,  144 ;  adopts 
nullification  ordinance,  145 ;  pre 
parations  against  violence  in,  14(5- 
148;  excitement  in,  over  federal 
movements,  149 ;  appealed  to  by 
Virginia,  150  ;  postpones  operation 
of  ordinance,  150 ;  gains  point  m 
compromise  tariff,  151  ;  prepares 
to  secede  in  1860,  340  ;  controversy 
in  Buchanan's  cabinet  over  strength 
ening  forts  in,  344-347  ;  adopts  ordi 
nance  of  secession,  348. 

Southwest,  Burr's  plan  to  separate 
from  Union,  47,  48  ;  brings  on  war 
of  1812,  55. 

Spain,  its  claims  to  Oregon,  229. 

Spencer,  Elizabeth,  marries  Cass,  51. 

Spencer,  General  ,  ancestor  of 

Cass's  wife,  51. 

Spoils  system,  significance  of  its  intro 
duction  under  Jackson,  138-140 ;  in 
timately  connected  with  democracy, 
140. 

Stevenson,  Andrew,  minister  to  Eng 
land,  176 ;  criticised  by  Webster,  182. 

Storrs,  Charles  B.,  preaches  anti-slav 
ery  doctrines,  258. 

Stuart,  Charles  E.,  presents  anti-slav 
ery  resolutions  of  Michigan  to  Sen 
ate,  312 ;  refuses  to  follow  them, 
313. 

Sumner,  Charles,  describes  Cass's 
house  in  Paris,  194 ;  his  speech  on 
Kansas,  318,  319 ;  denounced  by 
Cass  and  Douglas,  319 ;  professes 
friendship  for  Cass,  319,  320  ;  makes 
bitter  reply  to  Douglas,  320 ;  as 
saulted  by  Brooks,  320. 

Supreme  Court,  its  decision  in  Chero 
kee  case  criticised  by  Jackson  and 
Cass,  161 ;  its  Dred  Scott  decision, 
327. 

TANEY,  ROGER  B.,  attorney-general, 
137;  as  secretary  of  treasury,  re 
moves  deposits  from  bank,  154. 

Tariff,  considered  sectional  by  South, 
142  ;  in  1832,  drives  South  Carolina 
into  nullification,  143 ;  compromise 
in  1833,  proposed  by  Clay,  151  ; 
Cass's  views  on,  203;  in  campaign 
of  1844,  220. 


388 


INDEX 


Taylor,  Zachary,  ordered  to  occupy 
up  to  Rio  Grande,  231 ;  popular 
favorite  in  Mexican  war,  246,  247  ; 
suitable  candidate  for  president, 
247  ;  suggested  by  Ward,  247  ;  claims 
to  be  candidate  of  people,  not  of 
Whigs,  248  ;  nominated,  248  ;  oppo 
sition  to  his  nomination,  249,  250 ; 
preferred  by  Southern  Democrats  to 
Cass,  260,  261;  inaugurated,  267; 
his  attitude  toward  Territories,  267  ; 
suggests  state  organization  to  Cali 
fornia,  268 ;  recommends  mildness, 
272 ;  opposes  Clay's  compromise, 
281 ;  his  death  and  character,  282. 

Tecumseh,  his  schemes  instigated  by 
English,  57 ;  defeated  at  Tippecanoe, 
58  ;  taunts  Proctor  with  cowardice, 
86 ;  killed  at  battle  of  Thames,  87. 

Texas,  its  early  history,  210;  begin 
ning  of  plan  to  annex,  211 ;  annexa 
tion,  advocated  by  Tyler,  211 ;  de 
manded  by  South  for  slave  terri 
tory,  211,  212;  question  of,  enters 
politics  in  1843,  211,  212;  alleged 
designs  of  England  upon,  stir  up 
North,  212,  213;  letters  of  Van 
Buren  and  Clay  against,  212 ;  let 
ters  of  Jackson  on,  213 ;  Cass's  ar 
gument  for  its  annexation,  213; 
really  decides  campaign  of  1844, 
220  ;  Clay's  Alabama  letter  on,  221 ; 
annexed  under  Tyler  and  Calhoun, 
224 ;  its  boundaries  cause  war  with 
Mexico,  231 ;  its  claims  settled  in 
compromise,  283. 

Thiers,  Adolph,  under  Louis  Philippe, 
173. 

Thompson,  Jacob,  secretary  of  the 
interior,  329 ;  aids  secessionists,  340 ; 
says  Cass  wishes  to  withdraw  resig 
nation,  348. 

Tiffin,  Governor  Edward,  warned  by 
Jefferson  of  Burr's  schemes,  49; 
his  message  to  legislature,  49  ;  sug 
gestion  of  Jefferson  to,  50. 

Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  at  Buffalo  Conven 
tion,  253. 

Toucey,  Isaac,  secretary  of  navy  under 
Buchanan,  328. 

Town  meeting,  system  follows  New 
England  settlers  in  Northwest,  255. 

Trent  affair,  353,  354. 


Tyler,  John,  approves  Cass's  opposi 
tion  to  slave-trade  treaty,  182,  184  ; 
aids  in  Ashburton  negotiations,  188  ; 
suggests  slave-trade  article,  188 ; 
reports  to  Senate  correspondence 
between  Cass  and  Webster,  190; 
agrees  with  Calhoun,  210  ;  fails  to 
create  a  personal  party,  210 ;  raises 
question  of  Texas,  211 ;  works  for 
annexation,  224. 

UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD,  its  influence 
in  Northwest,  303. 

Upshur,  A.  P.,  secretary  of  state  un 
der  Tyler,  his  policy  toward  Mexico 
and  Texas,  211. 

Utah,  receives  territorial  government, 
283. 

VAN  BTTREN,  MARTIN,  in  Hull  court- 
martial,  83 ;  his  attentions  to  Mrs. 
Eaton,  135  ;  gains  Jackson's  confi 
dence,  136 ;  resigns  from  cabinet, 
136  ;  not  responsible  for  spoils  sys 
tem,  139 ;  called  aristocrat  in  elec 
tion  of  1840,  156;  questioned  by 
slaveholders,  178 ;  candidate  for 
nomination  in  1843,  204;  his  abil 
ity  as  president,  204,  205 ;  move 
ment  against  his  renomination,  205 ; 
damages  chances  for  nomination 
by  letter  against  Texas,  212,  213; 
letter  of  Jackson  in  favor  of,  213 ; 
discarded  by  South,  216;  dele 
gates  instructed  to  vote  for,  217 ; 
defeated  by  two-thirds  rule,  218; 
faction  support  of,  in  New  York, 
240 ;  leads  friends  to  oppose  ex 
tension  of  slavery,  240 ;  letter  to 
Utica  convention,  251 ;  nominated 
by  Barnburners,  251 ;  denounced 
by  Democrats,  252 ;  nominated  at 
Buffalo  Convention,  253  ;  vote  for, 
in  1848,  256,  259,  260;  classed  by 
South  with  Cass  and  Benton,  307. 

Van  Horn, ,  in  Hull's  campaign, 

74. 

Vermont,  adopts  Wilmot  Proviso  re 
solutions,  233.  • 

Verplanck,  Gulian  C.,  introduces  tariff 
bill,  151. 

Victoria,  Queen,  Cass  present  at  her 
coronation,  170. 


INDEX 


389 


Vidal,  Lieutenant ,  seizes  deserter 

in  Detroit,  103  ;  arrested  and  turned 
over  to  Cass,  103,  104  ;  his  release 
demanded,  104;  retained  by  Cass, 
104  ;  tried  and  fined,  105. 

Virginia,  its  mediation  in  nullification 
controversy  suggested,  149 ;  sends 
envoy  to  South  Carolina,  150. 

Von  Hoist,  H.  C.,  accuses  Cass  of 
being  led  by  political  ambition  in 
his  protest  to  Guizot,  185. 

WALKER,  ROBERT  J.,  succeeds  Geary  as 
governor  of  Kansas,  325  ;  persuades 
Free  State  men  to  abandon  Topeka 
Constitution,  325. 

War  Department,  Cass's  management 
of,  in  Black  Hawk  war,  141 ;  in 
nullification  excitement,  146,  148  ; 
in  Seminole  war,  163,  164;  other 
matters  considered  by,  164 ;  ques 
tion  of  Cass's  efficiency  in,  165,  166. 

War  of  1812,  a  sectional  contest,  54, 
55;  brought  on  by  Southwest  and 
South,  55;  popular  in  Northwest, 
55,  56  ;  volunteers  and  militia  called 
for,  60  ;  Hull's  invasion  of  Canada, 
61-84 ;  feeble  conduct  of,  by  Madi 
son's  administration,  62,  73,  82,  83  ; 
capture  of  Mackinaw,  72,  73;  sur 
render  of  Detroit,  79,  80  ;  massacre 
at  Fort  Dearborn,  81  ;  court-mar 
tial  of  Hull,  82-84;  massacre  of 
River  Raisin,  85;  Perry's  victory 
on  Lake  Erie,  86  ;  Harrison's  vic 
tory  at  the  Thames,  87 ;  alliance 
with  Indians,  92  ;  ended  by  peace  of 
Ghent,  94. 

War,  Mexican,  summary  of  its  results, 
224  ;  begun  by  Polk,  231 ;  a  "  pirat 
ical  assault,"  232. 

Wayne,  Anthony,  his  campaign  in 
West,  38. 

Webster,  Andrew  F.,  letter  of  Cass 
to,  in  1855,  321. 

Webster,  Daniel,  reminiscences  of 
Cass  at  school,  38;  secretary  of 
state  under  Harrison  and  Tyler, 
176 ;  warned  by  Cass  that  England 
is  preparing  for  war,  177 ;  annoyed 
by  Cass's  advice,  177 ;  controversy 
with  Cass  in  Senate,  182  ;  criticises 
Cass  and  Stevenson,  182;  calls 


Cass's  argument  inconclusive,  183 ; 
fails  to  grasp  real  principle,  183 ; 
concludes  Ashburton  treaty,  187 ; 
his  position  hi  cabinet,  187,  188; 
sends  Ashburton  treaty  to  Cass, 
188 ;  controversy  with  Cass  over 
Ashburton  treaty,  189-193  ;  his  ar 
guments  inferior  to  Cass's,  190 ; 
wrong  in  claiming  that  right  of 
search  is  abandoned,  191 ;  in  this 
case  not  superior  in  reasoning  to 
Cass,  192,  193;  only  statesman  of 
period  superior  to  Cass  in  debate, 
194  ;  retires  from  State  Department, 
211 ;  opposes  claims  to  Oregon, 
230  ;  unable  to  estimate  anti-slavery 
movement,  234  ;  has  no  chance  for 
nomination,  246,  248  ;  his  7th  of 
March  speech,  278 ;  its  effect  in 
North,  278  ;  candidate  for  nomina 
tion  in  1852,  289  ;  his  aims  identical 
with  Cass's,  363,  365. 

Weed,  Thurlow,  laments  over  Clay's 
Alabama  letter,  221,  222 ;  manages 
Taylor's  campaign,  247,  248. 

Western  Reserve,  its  survey  in  1796, 
5  ;  spirit  of,  contrasted  with  Michi 
gan,  16 ;  its  anti-slavery  spirit,  254, 
255,  258  ;  later  a  stronghold  of  Re 
publican  party,  255;  its  vote  in 
elections  of  1844  and  1848,  256,  257  ; 
retains  old  New  England  ideas  with 
modifications,  257;  its  Republican 
vote  in  1854,  308. 

Western  Reserve  College,  early  anti- 
slavery  sentiments  in,  258. 

Wheaton,  Henry,  asserts  that  treaty 
of  Washington  led  France  to  reject 
slave-trade  treaty,  182  ;  on  effect  of 
Cass's  protest,  184. 

Whig  party,  profits  by  panic  to  defeat 
Van  Buren,  155 ;  carries  Michigan, 
155 ;  its  strength  in  Ohio,  156  ;  de 
mands  resignation  of  Webster  from 
Tyler's  cabinet,  187  ;  doubts  Cass's 
orthodoxy  as  a  Democrat,  202 ;  en 
thusiastic  for  Clay  in  1843,  208; 
nominates  him,  216 ;  its  platform, 
216;  delighted  at  nomination  of 
Polk,  219 ;  damaged  by  Clay's  Texas 
letters,  221 ;  carries  Ohio,  223  ;  de 
feated  in  election,  223,  224 ;  stunned 
at  its  defeat,  224;  carries  New 


390 


INDEX 


York  in  1847,  243 ;  its  condition  in 
1848,  245 ;  chances  of  success,  246 ; 
tired  of  Clay  as  candidate,  246; 
favors  Taylor  over  Webster  and 
Scott,  246 ;  wishes  to  avoid  territo 
rial  issues,  247 ;  campaign  in,  for 
Taylor's  nomination,  247,  248;  in 
national  convention,  nominates  Tay 
lor,  248 ;  refuses  to  adopt  platform, 
249  ;  anti-slavery  members  of,  249 ; 
protests  in,  against  Taylor's  nomi 
nation,  250 ;  gains  only  offices  by 
election  of  Taylor,  264 ;  its  success 
means  nothing  in  politics,  264;  its 
national  convention  in  1852,  289; 
nominates  Scott  and  indorses  com 
promise,  289,  290;  discontent  of 
Northern  members  of,  291 ;  defeated 
in  1852,  291 ;  necessity  of  its  de 
struction,  291,  292 ;  retains  organi 
zation  in  East,  305 ;  nominates  Fill- 
more  in  1856,  322. 

Whipple,  Major,  Cass's  reply  to,  92. 

White,  Hugh  Lawson,  senator  from 
Tennessee,  refuses  War  Department, 
138. 

Wilkinson,  James,  betrays  Burr  to 
Jefferson,  49. 

Wilmot,  David,  offers  anti-slavery 
amendment  to  Two-million  bill,  232. 

Wilmot  Proviso,  its  introduction  and 
failure  in  Senate,  232 ;  again  passes 
House,  233  ;  Cass's  reasons  for  op 


posing,  233,  274,  277 ;  demanded  by 
Northern  state  legislatures,  233. 

Wilson,  Henry,  refuses  to  support 
Taylor,  250. 

Winchester,  General  James,  defeated 
in  1813,  85. 

Winnebagoes,  war  with,  prevented  in 
1827,  127,  128. 

Wisconsin,  its  slowness  to  be  Ameri 
canized,  2  ;  discovery  of,  4  ;  settled 
by  French,  6,  12,  13 ;  character  of 
life  in,  13 ;  governed  by  Cass,  115 ; 
explorations  in,  121,  127, 128 ;  Black 
Hawk  war  in,  141 ;  adopts  township 
system,  255;  heavy  Free-Soil  vote 
in,  260;  forms  Republican  party, 
305. 

Witherell,  Judge  James,  leads  Michi 
gan  militia  to  aid  Hull,  64. 

Woodbury,  Levi,  secretary  of  navy, 
137. 

Woodward,  Judge  Augustus  B. ,  on  an 
cestry  of  Canadians,  14 ;  founder  of 
University  of  Michigan,  27. 

Wright,  Silas,  accepts  nomination  for 
governor  in  1844,  241 ;  said  to  have 
elected  Polk,  241. 

YANCET,  W.  L.,  offers  non-interfer 
ence  resolution  in  Democratic  con 
vention,  244. 

ZANE,  EBKNEZER,  cuts  post-road,  44. 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS,  U.  S.  A. 

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' 


DEC  3  0  1965 


Book  Slip-20m-9,'60(B3010s4)458 


r 

2196^8 

Call  Number: 

E3UO 
C3 
M3 

1ROO 

Mclaughlin,  A.C. 
Lewis  Cass. 

C3 
M3 


